Queen Mother
by esama
Summary: Egeria's endless nightmares end in dreams of better tomorrow, when Hermione Granger decides to fight for her principles and Harry Potter decides that the queen of Tok'ra is worth saving. Slash, type of Mpreg, spoilers and some general weirdness.
1. First part

Warnings; Eventually slash and sort of Mpreg. Not yet in this part, though. Spoilers all around.

**Queen Mother**

**First part**

Egeria was dreaming of terrible things when they came - of crushed hope and lost dreams and the freedom she had once enjoyed. Even in dreams that time seemed so short, mere fraction of a second, mere stolen moment before Ra was standing over her, his expression hard, his stature imposing, his words unforgiving. _Egeria. What have you done?_

Even in dreams she couldn't quite explain why she had tried to make excuses. Oh, how young she had been back then, young and foolish, charmed by her discovery, charmed by the vision which at time was not in the least plausible. _Egeria. What have you done?_ Ra asked again and again, and she tried to explain - tell him of the human she had met, the very one he had ordered her to control. They are not primitives, she tried to tell, they have philosophy, mathematics, _principles_ - they look up to heavens and they see things even we do not always see! Even where we have not guided them or controlled them, they have intelligence and imagination that might one day surpass ours!

So foolish. Even in her own dreams she berated herself for that, her young impulsive self. What ever had made her think that Ra would see it, that he would understand - and, even if he did, where had she gotten the idea that he would _accept_ it? Not to mention seeing the possibility in it. Ra was a being of power and control - especially control - he did not want to hear the word, _might surpass ours_ from anyone's lips, not even his queen's. For him humans had always been slaves, and nothing more.

Yet, there it was again, the nightmare. Her, standing shocked and frightened, caught in the act of teaching, _teaching_ a little human boy how to understand writing. Ra, at the doorway, his eyes glowing, his servants all around him, Jaffa guard's flanking him at both sides. His question, as the little boy ran off in fear, her stutters, as she tried in vain to explain what he would never understand and never, ever accept. _Egeria. What have you done?_

What _had_ she done, in the end?

She shook awake from the uneasy dreaming as words echoed through her prison, muddled and slurred by the tank's liquid, but still just barely understandable. Automatically her head jerked up to see who it was this time - the scientist who was in charge of administering the drug that kept her fertile, kept her breeding? Or the assistant, who took care of the tank's filtration system and made sure it was rich in nutrients and vitamins that she required for survival? Or perhaps the specialist who took her young away time and time again, there to check the status of her pregnancy?

Blurred shapes beyond the glass became clear, and she jerked back a little. It was the man she saw sometimes, very rarely - Dollen, politician of some sort, perhaps even a governor. Military people were there as well, flanking him, and for a moment Egeria though how much like Ra he seemed. But there were other people as well.

Young people.

"No," she whispered, as she glanced from left to right. Sometimes new people came like this to see her - only once though. Old people, young people, women, men, even children. They peered into the tank and asked questions and at the end of the day they decided, we will take the drug, you have our support. More money to the project that abused her in ways Ra had never managed. More strain to her, as they demanded her to make more and more of her mindless young.

Except, these people weren't asking questions. They were arguing. Confused, Egeria looked between Dollen and a young female - a girl, even - who was loudly arguing. "…it is inhuman no matter what direction you look it from! No, I don't care about the nature of the so called Goa'uld - despite what they have supposedly done; it doesn't change what you are doing here, which is abusing a _sentient_ being for your own good!" She was saying, waving her arms and tugging on her long, brown hair in irritation.

To which the politician answered; "Miss Granger, I understand where you are coming from, at a time I felt very much like you do, but for the good of the Pangarians we cannot halt the drug's creation process - you know of our dependency on it, and to stop would amount to a holocaust -"

"Holocaust you brought upon yourself!" she argued back, and as one of the military men and few of the scientists joined the argument, it got too blurry for Egeria to keep up with.

Still, she leaned forward, straining to hear individual opinions. She didn't know who this Miss Granger was, but to hear someone standing in defiance against the practice was a… painful relief. It had happened every once in a while during the last years - so, so many years - but it had never made much difference. People like this Granger were silenced eventually, and then the drug manufacturing continued as it had.

With a tired sigh, Egeria turned her attention away. Yes, it never meant anything, she thought, even though she appreciated the girl's passion a little. She wished, she _dearly_ wished it would've made a difference. But none of the others had. Neither had her own efforts, and there had been many of them - each other either counteracted by the Pangarians, or ignored by them. None of it made a difference.

She almost jolted back, when one of the young people pressed her face almost against the glass of her tank - a young, blonde haired girl with wide eyes, staring at her like she had never seen the like. Most likely never had, either. Had the situation been different - had her _life_ been different - Egeria might've felt amusement, maybe even some traces of that old fondness she had always held for human young. But she was too tired to do more than look back.

"Harry?" the blonde human asked, turning away. "I don't think this is a Crumple-horned Snorkack."

Another human shifted forward - a male this time. He smiled faintly. "No, I don't think so," he agreed, pressing his hand against the tank. Curious, Egeria shifted closer to see him more clearly. He had pieces of glass in front of his eyes, and dark hair. His eyes seemed tired - sad too, maybe. "Maybe we should leave," he said.

"Home?" the blonde girl asked, glancing up and away from Egeria. "I would like to go home."

"Me too, Luna, but I actually meant leaving this room - this facility. We can't go home unless we can figure the ship out, you know that," the young man, Harry, said, still looking at Egeria. He lowered his hand from the glass, and placed it on the girl's shoulder. "We should go. The others are waiting for us at the central building."

"We can't go before Hermione is done arguing," the girl answered, shrugging her shoulders and turning to look at Egeria again. "And the others can wait. Do you think she has a name?"

"Hermione?" Harry asked, sounding confused.

"I think she does. Hermione is very name like name, and Hermione goes by it, so I think that means she has a name - but no, I meant her," Luna said, tapping the glass with her finger tip. "If she is sentient like they say, then she should have a name."

"Probably yeah," Harry nodded, shaking his head. "But don't go naming her all by yourself - she might get angry at you," he added before bowing his head a little and looking Egeria into the eyes. Then he did something so surprising, that Egeria's fins shot up and she very nearly straightened herself completely. "Do you have a name?" he asked - hissing the words out softly in language she hadn't heard in ages; her own.

Before she could even begin to think of what to answer, one of the scientist rushed forward to push the two children back, saying, "Away, away from the tank; you will excite the queen!" and soon they were too far for Egeria to hear what they were saying, or if they were saying anything at all. Instead, her attention was again drawn to the argument, which was now moving away from the tank - out of the room.

"… as you say, the ship is ours and we decide whether or not we will share its secrets," the brown haired girl, Hermione Granger, was saying as Dollen led her and the others away. "I want to know more about this Tretonin and the way you make it before I will let you step one foot on that ship - because if your behaviour with that will be like the one you show for the queen…"

"…I assure you, Miss Granger, that we are wiling to share everything and do whatever we can to demonstrate that our medical procedures are not as cruel as you seem to think - and the reasons behind the necessity of the Tretonin are not as light as you believe. Fifty years ago, when the medical research originally begun, Pangar was suffering the effects of a pandemic…"

And then they were too far away for Egeria to hear, the door closing behind them and leaving her alone in her tank, in her room. She looked after them, lowering her fins and quivering with disappointment. That young human, that Harry, he could speak the mother tongue of the Goa'uld - the language the symbiotes without hosts spoke. How did he manage that? It wasn't a language humans _could_ learn - it was simply physically impossible, their vocal chords couldn't make the right sounds…

Egeria sighed, and lowered her head, eventually resting it against the bottom of the tank. She was so very tired, too tired to think, too tired to hope. Perhaps she would sleep some more, she thought, closing her eyes and letting the soft currents in the tank to tug on her fins, lulling her off to sleep. She'd have more nightmares, perhaps about Ra again, or Janus, Numa, or possibly of her children, where ever they were - if there was any left. She would've preferred not to, but she was tired, so very tired…

Somewhere, Ra was still demanding answers. _Egeria. What have you done?_

x

She woke up to the touch, as gloved hands ran along the side of her birthing sack. Lifting her head, she glanced up to see one of the scientists leaning over the tank, both hands gloved all the way up to his shoulders to avoid skin contact with the water. She shivered, grateful of the fact that despite their medical abuse, the Pangarians never sought to physically hurt her - even now, while checking her condition and the progress of the latest of her young, the scientist's hands were almost gentle.

Once, she had tried to use these check ups to escape - or at least to bite the people who so used her - but she didn't have neither the strength of body or spirit to try, and so she just laid and let the man do his examinations.

"There are less," the scientist said to others in the room. "The sack isn't full - I think we've lost at least three this time."

Another scientist sighed, shaking his head. "That's only, what, thirty four per cycle now?" he asked with worry. "Each year it's less."

"And the fertility serum is having less and less of an effect," the first scientist agreed grimly, taking off his rubber gloves. "This is getting bad."

Had Egeria been able to talk to them, she would've told them that she was getting old - her body wasn't good enough to support the original numbers. Once, twenty or so years ago, she had once given birth to almost seventy mindless symbiotes per cycle - admirable sum for any queen without a host. But that was twenty years ago, and her efforts to lessen her young, to drain them of their minds and powers, were taking their toll on her. Another ten years or so, and she'd be completely unable to continue, no matter how they drugged her in order to keep her going.

At least by then, it would be over.

As the scientist bustled about, making notes and observations and tweaking the serum delivery system, she dozed lightly in and out again, remembering her first Tok'ra child and how happy she had been when her beliefs had been passed on. There had been so much work to do, but she hadn't been alone, she hadn't been alone… like she was now.

She came out of the sleepy haze as more people joined the room - two soldiers and the youths from before. Miss Granger was there, her hair tied back and her sleeves pulled up, looking determined. Harry was there too, talking with another young man. "… well, of course I _can_, but I'm not going to just yet - not before Hermione calms down."

"Probably a good call, mate," the other young man, red haired and freckled, chuckled

"If you two are done," Hermione snapped over her shoulder, while walking straight to Egeria's tank. "We're not here to fool around, you know," she added while bending to look at the queen.

"Ugh," the redhead said, noticing Egeria. "Merlin, she's an ug-"

"Ron, don't you dare," the brown haired girl said sternly. "This is _important_."

He grimaced, giving Egeria a slightly uneasy look. "I don't really see how," he said, pulling himself a chair while the scientist and the soldiers exchanged words behind the backs of the three young humans. "I mean this whole thing has nothing to do with us, does it? I think we should be concentrating onto _getting back home_," he said, waving his hand at the room around them. "What ever these people do in their secret facilities isn't really any of our business, is it?"

"Uuh, big mistake, mate," Harry murmured, grinning, as he turned so that Hermione couldn't see his expression.

"Not your busi - _not our business?_ Of course it is our business! They are abusing, borderline torturing this being, and I am not going to do _any_ business with the Pangarians before I know everything they have to say about this whole thing," Hermione snapped, waving around as well. "I do not associate with _enslavers_ or _torturers_."

"It's not _human_, Hermione," the redhead said, though looking a little defensive.

"So what? She _could_ be!" the girl said, lifting her chin. "Just because she doesn't look like you or talk like you, it doesn't mean she can't be intelligent, she can't have a soul or emotions - can't feel pain. How would you feel if it was Dobby in that tank - or a unicorn? Or one of us - we're not exactly _normal humans_ either, so it might as well be!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," the redhead, Ron, said, lifting his hands in surrender. "Don't bite my head off; it wasn't me who set this thing up."

The girl huffed, before turning to the scientists and demanding to see their data. Behind her, the two youths exchanged a look and sighed, apparently adjusted to her bursts. Egeria, on other hand, followed the girl's process with interest. People had spoken for her before, but never with such vehemence. And what did she mean, not exactly normal humans? They looked like humans. Perhaps they were Jaffa?

"I guess we're waiting, then," Harry muttered, chucking and approaching the tank thoughtfully. "This might take a while."

"While, which we don't have. We should be trying to figure out way to get home - we should be already heading back!" Ron muttered, folding his arms. "Not that the idea of spending another four months cooped up on a ship sounds in any way enticing, but… we should be trying. We have… we have stuff to do," he finished lamely.

"I know, trust me, I know. We have a war to fight," Harry sighed, kneeling beside the tank and looking Egeria up and down. "Sorry about that. If it hadn't been for me and that stupid vision…"

"Yeah, yeah. We know, you've said it some half a million times already. You can safely assume that we have forgiven you," Ron said, grimacing slightly as he looked between Harry and the queen. "Do you _have_ to be that close to it? It's giving me the creeps."

"I don't know," Harry answered, shrugging his shoulders. "After Blast Ended Skrewts, she's not half bad looking really."

"You just _had_ to make that comparison," the redhead muttered but gave Egeria another look. "Hey, you're right. Still not a pretty sight, but yeah, she could look worse."

Egeria almost chuckled at that, not sure when was the last time she had heard simple light hearted talk like this. Mostly light hearted anyway. She had to wonder what kind of world they came from - they were obviously not Pangarians. And Pangar, as far as she knew, had no war - despite the things they did in name of medical science, they were mostly peaceful people.

"Her health is declining," the brown haired human girl said, stepping forward with a wad of papers in her arms. "The number of children she can have has gone down each year, and they've had to increase how much they feed her, and the… the fertility drugs they give her. Oh Merlin, the poor creature. And no wonder, after so many years."

"How many?" Harry asked, and Egeria glanced up. She had lost count of the years, and though it made no difference at this point, knowing would still give her… something.

"Hm. They started the experiments about forty five years ago, and she's been… she's been producing offspring's for about twenty five years," the girl looked up and to Egeria with such compassion in her eyes, that Egeria was a little taken aback.

"Ouch," the redhead murmured, shifting uneasily where he sat. "That's a long while. And didn't you say that the stuff they're making, this Tre-whatever it is, it doesn't even work right?"

"It does, and it doesn't," Hermione said, sitting down on the floor beside Harry, almost out of the range of Egeria's vision. "It does cure all illnesses - at first it was only given to those who were ill with incurable lethal diseases, and it worked almost every time. The problem is that once you've used it even once, you become dependant on it."

"Huh?"

"It means they have to keep on taking the drug," Harry explained to his redheaded friend. "So the drug is addictive?"

"No, not addictive - but those who have taken it will die if they stop taking it," Hermione answered. "It suppresses the user's immunity system to the point that the moment they stop using the drug, the moment the last dose is out of their system, their… well, their organs stop functioning properly. Most of the users who stop die of heart and liver failures."

"Merlin," Ron murmured, glancing at Egeria who was staring at the brown haired girl in surprise. She had known that there would be side effects of the drug they made of her young, but she hadn't though they'd be this severe! The Pangarians must've formed the drug in vastly different manner than she had assumed - she had thought that they used the drug as mild injections to counteract the most violent diseases. She had assumed that, at worse, the side effects would've included powerful withdrawals, nausea and maybe decreased resistance to diseases. But the drug must've been more potent than she had though, for it to have such damning after effect.

That explained why they required so much of it, why they kept forcing her to breed so rapidly…

"How many people are on it? The way they put it in the beginning, I got the impression they're _all_ on it, but this…" Harry trailed away, looking at Hermione.

"At first, the number could've been counted with one hand - only those very important to the people of Pangar were allowed to have it, scientists and such, people they didn't think they could bear to lose. But it worked so well, that people with milder diseases wished it as well. And… they thought they could eventually refine the Tretonin so that it wouldn't have such side effects," the girl said, looking a little at loss.

"How many people, Hermione?"

"About… about forty thousand," she said, glancing up to Egeria, who recoiled a little at the number.

"Forty thousand people?" Ron asked, blinking rapidly. "Forty thousand people, all using this thing? Which _kills_ you the moment you stop using it? What the hell?"

"Why did they let so many people use it?" Harry asked with shock. "If they knew that they had to keep on using the drug, why did they…?"

"They really thought they could do something about the side effects," Hermione answered, shaking her head while she leafed through the papers. "They thought that within the next five years, ten years, twenty years… answer would be found. And in that time, more people started using it, demanded access to it. They can barely produce enough to support the forty thousand using it now, but more people demand it."

She looked up and to Egeria, who was hanging her head. "Thousands of people depending on her, and she's at the end of her rope. No wonder the Pangarians want the ship - they think it might be their way of finding another Goa'uld queen…"

Egeria shifted at that, bristling. But the insult she felt at being called a Goa'uld didn't last long, not under the helpless fatigue she felt after what she had learned. "Forty thousand people," she whispered, turning away from the odd, sympathetic human children and hiding her head behind the bulk of her birthing sack. "Forty thousand people. Merciful heavens…" she hadn't thought it was so serious.

"Wait, what was that?" she heard Harry murmur, and more sensed than heard how he got up and went around the tank so that he could face her.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"I could swear I could hear her speaking," the black haired human said, and bowed to face her. Then, like before for one moment she had thought had been a mere trick of her imagination, he hissed in the mother tongue of the Goa'uld. "Can you speak?" he asked, hissing and snarling the barely used language of the symbiotes as easily as if he was speaking his own tongue. "Can you understand me, Goa'uld queen?"

Egeria lifted her head slightly and looked up to him, her fins bristling and her pincers flaring. But she hesitated, not sure if it would be wise to speak to this human, or try as she didn't know if he would understand her as she understood him. What would happen? Would the Pangarians then try and regain information from her once they knew they could communicate, torture her for technology perhaps? Or try and force her to make more offspring's for them only so that they could be killed, one after another, in name of their drug?

"I am not a Goa'uld," she finally answered him, in hisses and squeaks that were the rarely used language that, until now, she had thought only symbiotes could manage.

"She can speak," Harry murmured, kneeling beside the tank. On the other side, there was sound of scattered paper and creak as a chair was pushed back, before the two other humans joined the black haired young man. He glanced up to them. "I can't quite make it out; it's a bit different from Parseltongue - sharper. But it's similar."

"Try again," Hermione ushered him, placing her hand excitedly on his shoulder and squeezing. "Tell me what she tells you."

Harry nodded, and turned back to Egeria. "My name is Harry," he introduced himself in soft, almost gentle hiss. "Do you have a name?"

The old queen shifted a little. "My name is Egeria," she answered slowly, and when Harry frowned, she repeated her name once, and then once again.

"Egeria," Harry hissed slowly and glanced up to his friends to repeat it in human tongue. The human girl nodded excitedly, and then motioned him to go on. Turning to Egeria once more, Harry licked his lips thoughtfully, and then frowned. "What was that what you said before, that you weren't…" he trailed away.

"Goa'uld," Egeria said, her fins quivering. "I am not a Goa'uld. I am Tok'ra - I rebelled against the Goa'uld," at this she lifted her head a little. She had little reason to be proud these days, but for that she would always feel sense of victory and accomplishments. Even if it had amounted almost to nothing, she had still done it. She had gone against the overwhelming power of the other Goa'uld.

"Uh, what?" Harry asked, frowning, apparently not quite understanding.

"Tok'ra," Egeria repeated slower this time. "I rebelled against the Goa'uld - I fought against them. Ra punished me for it." She had to repeat the words over and over for him to understand. The effort was making her tire quicker, however, much quicker than she would've liked, and soon her head was drooping.

"I think she says she was punished for something. Rebelling?" Harry said to his friends, trying to make sense of it. "Against, uh, Ra?"

"The Pangarians say they found her in a stasis jar of some sort," Hermione said, leaning forward. "Maybe she was put that way for a reason - maybe she's a prisoner."

"So they're breeding a criminal. What difference does that make?" Ron asked.

"Well, if the Goa'uld are like the Pangarians say they are - pretend to be gods, enslave humans, that sort of thing... then what would their prisoners be like? What would be their rebels like?" Hermione asked, leaning so heavily onto her black haired friend that Harry took support on the tank's table.

"Egeria," he said, turning to the queen with a new look about his eyes - new interest burning in the green depths. "What did you do?"

_Egeria. What have you done?_

"I chose freedom," she answered, her eyes closing as her head drifted down to rest against the bottom of the tank. "I chose freedom."

x

"… I sympathise, I truly do, but this revelation, if it even is the truth and not some sort of deception, does not change the reality and gravity of the situation," familiar voice spoke very close to the tank, waking Egeria from her sleep. "The facts still remain the same. Forty thousand people still depend on the Tretonin - forty thousand people will still die if the production is halted. I do not know if I can make that any more clearer."

It was Dollen, who was facing Hermione, Harry and yet another youth Egeria had not seen before - a male with brown hair and solemn look about his kind face.

"But surely this means that at least you will be looking into other options? Whatever happens, the status quo doesn't do, you must see that," Hermione was saying, motioning at the tank, at Egeria. "Not just for her sake, but also for your people. Egeria is old and obviously the process of breeding is wearing her out - not to mention about the fact that over and over her children are dying at your hand! And once she is too old and too worn for you to abuse her any longer, then what happens? And how many more people have you inflicted with the Tretonin? Can't you at least try and find other means?"

"Miss Granger, I assure you, our scientists have tried everything they can possibly imagine - for twenty years we have been working on the way to counteract the flaw in Tretonin with little success. There is simply nothing we can do about it," Dollen answered, wringing his hands. "As for what comes to our people, no more people have been given Tretonin in the last two years - and that will only change unless we come up with a cure for this."

"And that's all? You're going to keep at this until she dies?" Hermione asked, pulling her hair and looking exasperated. "Are you sure there is nothing else you have tried, nothing else that you could possibly - some other medicine that could take the place of the Tretonin? Or something that will reawaken the disconnected immunity system? Anything?"

"We have tried, Miss Granger, trust me on this. Every possible mean, every even craziest idea has been considered. There is nothing we have been able to do -"

"Maybe there is still something you haven't considered - not because of trying but because availability. Neville," Hermione turned to the new youth, pressing her hand to his chest. "Neville here is a Herbologist from our world, he knows all sort of things plants can do, maybe he can help."

Dollen glanced at the young man and then sighed. "I appreciate the offer," he started, taking a deep breath. "But I doubt that there is anything on this planet that our scientists haven't tested and tried. I do not think that your friend - talented as he may be - can contribute anything that hasn't been considered before…"

The argument continued on, with Egeria following it with tired interest, trying to smother the hope she hadn't allowed herself to feel since the first time watching Pangarians dissect one of her young. Someone fighting for her so vehemently was… incredible. But she could tell that they were at a stalemate despite Hermione's enthusiasm - and they simply didn't have the means out of it. Anything Hermione would suggest or offer would do no good, and despite their good intentions, the Pangarians simply couldn't stop doing what they had been doing for the last twenty years - the cost was too great for them to even consider.

"Harry," Egeria called softly, making the black haired youth turn to her, and then leave the argument. "They are arguing because of me?"

"Arguing, um…" the young man spent a moment trying to figure the sentence in his head, before nodding. "Because of the drug they make of your young."

Egeria shifted forward a little. "Can you tell me about it?" Maybe there was something she could do. The Pangarians weren't as simple as majority of the people she had known, but they still had ways to go. She, however, didn't - and maybe there was something she could contribute. The death of forty thousand hadn't been her intention. "How do they make the drug?"

"Sorry, I didn't get that," Harry apologised, leaning forward and almost pressing his ear against the glass. "Could you repeat a little slower?" Egeria did, once and then again until Harry nodded in understanding. "Okay," he said, and turned away from her.

"What are you doing?" Dollen demanded to know.

"Talking to her. How do you think we found out she's not a Goa'uld?" Harry asked, pulling a chair and reaching for Hermione. "Can you hand me the stuff you have about the drug? Egeria wants to know about it."

"Wait, how can you - why does she -?" Dollen started, sounding shocked.

"Harry has the ability to talk to snakes and snake-like creatures - that's how he understands Egeria," Hermione said, taking the folder she had been carrying and handing it over to her friend. "Why does she want to know?"

"I'm not sure if that is entirely wise -" Dollen started, and two guards at the door stepped forward a little.

"I don't know yet, she just wants me to tell her how it's made. It can't be dangerous - it's not like she can do anything about it, being locked up in an aquarium as she is," Harry said, leafing through the papers. "What do you want to know?" he asked, in the hissing language that seemed to come unnaturally easy for him.

"The complete process," Egeria pressed on. "What do they extract from my children, and how is the final result refined." She repeated her request over and over, trying to pronounce things a little softer as it was the sharper sounds Harry seemed to have difficulties with, until finally the message got through.

Harry nodded slowly until he found the paper. Then, as the others in the room watched, he began to read from the file in soft, gentle hisses, explaining how the process went. Egeria quivered and hissed slightly at certain parts - her children were alive, _alive_ when the drug's parts were extracted! And they were kept alive for months until the parts they needed for the drug stopped regenerating.

It explained so many things, though. If they had only used the parts in the blood of her children, the drug would've been so much fainter - it could've worked like immediate cure for several human illnesses, but with side effects of weakness, withdrawal and immunity system determination. But this way, with this stronger drug… it completely dismantled the human immunity system - and it was because of the way she had used to sabotage her young that it did that. If she had gone a different way… or if she had not sabotaged her children at all…

It was not at all what she had thought - not at all what she had had in mind. She originally had done it because her first children, the ones she birthed with her knowledge and intellect, were dissected. She couldn't bear to watch it again, so the rest of her young she had made lesser, weaker. And then, when the experimentation had continued, she had weakened them further until they carried a mere fragment of what they could've been. Maybe that way, it would've stopped. Maybe that way, they would've learned their lesson, and finally stopped…

Except, they hadn't. And it was her fault in part - because she had made her young so weak, because the Pangarians had made the drug so strong, it had became lethal, and they _couldn't_ stop its production, not unless they wanted to see those using it die.

But knowing this, she now knew something else. It could be undone. She could undo the damage she had inadvertently done - the damage the Pangarians had inadvertently done.

"Egeria?" Harry asked softly, touching the screen of the tank. "Egeria, are you with me?"

"I am tired," she answered, shifting a little. She felt heavy - her unborn young felt heavy inside her. Her own deeds, her own mistakes felt heavy. Oh, Egeria. What have you done, indeed. "I didn't intend this," she added and looked up. "Harry, can you write something down for me?"

"What, uh… write? You want me to - okay, give me a moment," the human youth said, and glanced over his shoulder. "She wants me to write something. Can I have a pen and a paper?"

They were hastily given by Dollen, who had been watching them. Then everyone in the room - Harry's friends, Dollen, the scientists and even the soldiers came to look over the youth's shoulders, as Harry tried to write what Egeria told him to.

"Harry," Hermione whispered. "I can't read this. Are you writing parseltongue?"

"Goa'uld, I think. We can translate it later," the youth answered, before asking Egeria to repeat the last instructions again. She did, over and over, until finally he got the entire message down - the instructions for making more Tretonin from less. "Egeria, what is this?" Harry asked, once he was done writing what Egeria now saw was the oldest method of writing of the Goa'uld - the dialect they had written back when the Unas had still been their hosts.

"An offering," she answered, resting her head against the floor of her tank and sighing in exhaustion. "Of more time. I'm so tired…"

As Harry turned to the others to explain what Egeria had offered them, she drifted off to sleep which, for the first time in decades, didn't involve nightmares.

x

"… the place where they found you with one of the local archaeologists. Turns out I have knack for understanding Goa'uld, so I helped them translating the wall in the place where they found you," Harry's words woke Egeria, making her glance upwards. He was sitting beside the tank, leading through some papers. "Turns out this place has been inhabited by two Goa'uld. First Ra, who probably brought you here, and then Shak'ran, who won the planet from him."

"And what happened to Shak'ran?" Egeria asked, lifting her head a little.

"I don't know. He left eventually - something about mining and how Pangar wasn't fruitful anymore," the youth answered, turning to her. "You're awake."

"Yes," she answered, giving him a thoughtful look. "You understand me better."

"A little. Hermione gave me this spell - the problem was with my hearing, I couldn't hear all the sounds you make. Now I can, so, no more repeating," Harry smiled, closing the folder and placing it down to the table beside the tank. "That thing you gave me has the Pangarians a bit excited. Apparently they will be able to increase their Tretonin production by sixty percent with that formula."

"Yes," Egeria nodded. Spell? Maybe name Harry's people used for their technology. Many human populations associated advanced technology with magic, so it wasn't that strange. "That is why I gave it."

"Why? I mean, sure, you want them to increase the production, obviously, but why would you want that?" Harry asked, frowning. "There's already some talk about how they can now maybe give it to more people, and I don't think that's a good idea. Dollen agrees with me, thank Merlin, but I don't see how more Tretonin is a good thing. Especially for you."

"I suspected problems, but I do have a motive," Egeria admitted, her fins flaring. "What I intended was to give them more time so that they can create the technology through which they can free themselves of the Tretonin. As it is, Pangarian medical science is not advanced enough yet, they do not have the means or the understanding to do it yet. But with some instructions - and with the time the enhanced formula gives - they might be able to do it before I die."

"Before you die," Harry said slowly. "The point was you not dying, as I recall it."

Egeria considered that for a moment before sighing and lowering her head. "I am tired," she said softly. "And old, so very old. I will not live for long, even if the production is stopped and I will be required birth no more of my young, it is inevitable. I have accepted that - my time is soon coming."

The young human eyed her for a moment, before leaning back in his chair. "Wow," he murmured finally. "I mean, that's kind of sad, of course, and I feel sorry, but… wow. You're dying, but you're… helping the Pangarians? That's just…"

"That is the will of the Tok'ra," Egeria answered simply. "I could not simply do nothing - not when I have the means to help the humans so dependant of my young. Not when I have the means to save them."

"That's admirable," Harry murmured, giving her a smile. "But don't you have any means of helping yourself? As far as I can tell, the Goa'uld can maintain the whole god thing because of their technology - the ship which brought us here is obviously Goa'uld technology. With that sort of thing, can't you…"

"Ship?" Egeria interrupted.

"Ah, yes. Me and my friends, we sort of… stumbled on a space ship," the youth answered, grimacing a little. "And before we could get out, it set course of Pangar - or something like it. We couldn't do anything to stop it, we had no idea how. Four months later, we arrived here and managed to get down to the planet by using these… ring things on board." He shrugged.

"Automated emergency escape vessel perhaps - Ra had several. They are programmed to automatically set course for a Goa'uld home planet the moment someone comes on board. You must've triggered the program when you boarded the ship," Egeria said thoughtfully. "Most intriguing."

"That's what Hermione says, but I never really got it all," Harry answered. "The Pangarians have been pretty nice to us, despite the fact that we teleported right in middle of their museum exhibit. And especially after the ruckus Hermione made after finding out about how the Tretonin is made," he added, snorting and then waving his hand to dismiss the matter. "That's beside the point, though. If the Goa'uld have interstellar travel, the surely they have something that could help you."

"There are… some means of healing, but I choose not to accept them," Egeria answered. "Some Goa'uld healing devices have a detrimental effect upon the mind. Some have the side effect of damaging the spirit, of leeching the goodness out of the user's heart. I would rather die free and as pure as I can manage, than live using that sort of technology."

The young human eyed her for a moment, frowning as she rested her head down, tired even after such a short speech. "I'm sorry," she said. "Carrying children makes me tire quicker than I would like."

"I see," Harry nodded, glancing at her birthing sack. "It must be terrible. To have kids, only to have the Pangarians…"

"It is… bearable, if only just. My children aren't whole; I don't impart my knowledge upon them. They never know the fate that befalls them. That helps," she answered, sighing.

"You mean your kids, they aren't born intelligent? You can do that?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Normally knowledge is passed from the queen to the offspring, who then emerges whole with whatever knowledge the queen chooses to give and fully realised personality," Egeria answered, closing her eyes. "In the beginning, when the Pangarians found me, I thought… I thought they knew who I was, what I stood for - I thought they might be interested in becoming Tok'ra. The children of my first cycle were… they were full. They were intelligent. _Beautiful_. And then… then the Pangarians…"

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, resting his hand on the glass in display of compassion.

"I couldn't bear to watch it again, so I chose not to give birth again. But the Pangarians found a way to force me through a fertility drug. This time, I didn't pass on my knowledge and I haven't since," she said, tired and weary in more than just body and mind. She felt even older than she was.

They were both quiet for a moment, she mourning her young, all her young from the first beautiful Tok'ra child she had had, to the last mindless young she had given birth - to the children even now growing in her sack. And he, offering silent support and compassion in way no one had for so long, for impossibly long.

"I should… I should begin explaining what the Pangarians will have to do, to counteract the effects of Tretonin. It will be a long process and sooner we begin, the better," Egeria said after moment.

"Yes, maybe. Before that, though, could you tell me something?" Harry asked. "Could you tell me what does Tok'ra mean? You've used that term, and I don't understand it."

Egeria glanced at him with surprise and then hummed low, making the liquid around her vibrate. "Tok'ra, against Ra," she said a little wistfully. "It is what I am. What I chose. What I started."

In quiet, almost sad tones, she told her of Tok'ra, of the ideology she had wished to pass on to her children in hopes that one day, the Goa'uld dominance would end, and humans and symbiotes could live in harmony. Of course, she hadn't arrived to the ideology alone - and would forever be grateful for Janus for showing her the flaws in the Goa'uld ways. She recalled her host of the time - Liviana, who had been so kind, so loving. Egeria would probably always regret taking Liviana so forcefully when she had taken her as a host, but they had came to understand each other. Together, they had created the ideology of the Tok'ra. Together they had started rebellion against the Goa'uld.

"And then Ra locked you up?" Harry asked, his hiss quiet.

"Not immediately. I was... free for a while. I had children; I passed on my knowledge and my ideals. For a while I had hope. Then Ra found me… and eventually imprisoned me," Egeria sighed. "I never did understand whether he did it out of cruelty or kindness. He could've killed me, kept on torturing me forever… I believe I don't wish to know, either."

"I guess I wouldn't either," the human youth answered thoughtfully and then glanced up as others entered the room. "Commander Tegar," he greeted one of them, changing the language to that of humans.

"Mr. Potter," the man answered, glancing between him and Egeria, who rested her head on the bottom again, sighing. "If you would come with us, there are some questions we'd wish to ask of you."

"About Egeria?" Harry asked. "Shouldn't the questioning done here, where she can answer?"

"It's not entirely about Egeria. Come this way, please, there's much to discuss," the commander answered, motioning him to follow.

"I guess I got to go," Harry murmured, turning to Egeria. "I'll be back," he hissed, resting his hand against the glass again. "Try and get some rest."

"It is all I get, most of the time," Egeria answered, already drifting off.

x

The next time Egeria awoke, it was to the tapping against the glass of her tank. Tired but alert, she looked up, expecting to see Harry, but instead finding the faces of Tegar and Dollen close to the tank. Tegar was the one rapping his finger against the glass, holding some papers in his other hand.

"Egeria. I do not know if you can hear or understand me, so… Nod once if you can understand, please," Dollen said, with somewhat strained smile. Egeria glanced between him and Tegar and then looked around to see if Harry or the others were anywhere near. They weren't, there were only Pangarians in the room. After a moment, she sighed and nodded, worried about where this was going, but unable to do much more than comply. After having proven that she could communicate with Harry… it had been inevitable.

"Good," Tegar said, as the two of them pulled chairs and sat down, he ruffling through some papers while Dollen fiddled his hands nervously. "There are some questions we would like to ask of you - all can be answered with a _yes_ or a _no_, so you can just nod or shake your head as an answer. Do you understand?" he waited until Egeria nodded, and then nodded himself in return. "Very good. First of all -"

"First of all," Dollen cut in. "Do you understand that we were labouring under the impression that you were a Goa'uld queen with the beliefs and ideals of the Goa'uld of whom we've read in our ancient texts and monuments? That we did not know of your difference in ideals?"

Egeria sifted a little with surprise and nodded her head. No, they couldn't have known - for them she had been just a Goa'uld queen and a wellspring of possibilities. They had neither the knowledge nor the understanding to expect more - and she doubted that Ra had next any good records of his doings behind.

"I hope you can forgive us. Had we known…" the politician sighed, shaking his head helplessly.

"Yes, indeed, had we known. Now," Tegar cut in sharply. "Mr. Potter is under the impression that you seek to aid us in freeing our people from the necessity of taking the Tretonin," he said, and the Tok'ra nodded before he even asked. He blinked, and wrote something down, before continuing on. "Do you think it is truly possible? The side effects of the drug can be defeated?"

Egeria nodded, this time a little slower. It was possible, very possible, but it would take work, and she doubted it would be perfect. Judging by the way the drug was made; there were… flaws with it - more than the obvious. And she didn't know what kind of problems those flaws would cause.

"You gave us a formula of increasing the Tretonin production whilst lessening the… production costs. Mr. Potter says you did this as an offering," Tegar continued. "I assume that you require a… counter offer?" at this Egeria shook her head. "No?" Tegar asked, surprised. "Then why -"

"Please. If you have the means of saving our people, the tens of thousands that are dependant of the Tretonin, then… if there is anything we can do, any way of -" Dollen started, and stopped when Egeria shook her head again. "I do not understand," the politician murmured, running his hand over his hair. "We assumed that you did this for the sake of your freedom - that you perhaps wished to gain a host…"

Egeria shook her head again, sighing a little. They hadn't realised how old she was, apparently. They didn't understand how tired she was, how weary. Or how beautiful the concept of slipping away to the eternal darkness seemed. She wished to help, to save the Pangarians because their status was partly her fault, and she did not want her final act in life to play such a part of their death. She wanted to slip away free of such a guilt.

Not to mention that at this point she was so old and so weak, that if she took a host it was likely that she would only live for some years after that and when she'd die she'd take her host with her.

"Then, you are helping us without asking anything in return? Is that what you intend?" Tegar asked, looking a little lost when Egeria nodded. "We had not… expected that. Not after what we…"

Egeria shifted to the side, more to show her discomfort at the subject than actually recoiling. Tegar swallowed and nodded, seeming to understand. "Well then. Let's talk about time. All in all, how long do you think it will take to cure our people? More than a decade?" To that the Tok'ra queen shook her head, knowing she didn't have that much time. Tegar nodded his head slowly. "Less than a decade? More than five years, then?"

"I would say that means around five years," Dollen said, as Egeria tilted her head slightly from side to side, like weighing the matter. "Five years and our people will be whole again. But then, that would mean…"

Egeria lowered her head and nodded. Yes, indeed. Even with the enhanced formula, the current amount of Tretonin wouldn't last the population for long enough. They would need more. Which meant she would need to keep on producing her mindless young for the drug.

"I wish there was another way," Dollen murmured softly, and Egeria nodded sadly in agreement.

"What do you need to succeed in creating the counter drug?" Tegar asked. "I imagine Mr. Potter's aid, as he is the only one who can communicate with you, but what else? Workers? Equipment?"

Egeria nodded to both suggestions, and as Dollen and Tegar begun to theorise what they would need, she nodded here and shook her head there, and together they planned the salvation of the Pangarian people.

x

When Harry learned about the plan, he didn't seem too happy - certainly not as happy as Egeria had hoped to see him. "Of course, I'm happy that you're coming up with something, working together to solve this mess, but… I was kind of hoping to be on the way back to home sometime soon," he admitted. "It took so long to get us here too…"

"Your world is in a war," Egeria stated than asked, shifting closer to the glass.

"Yes," the youth agreed. "Well, not the whole world, but our corner of it is in the brink of war - it's probably started now. We need to get back there - they need us there. With the way our Ministry - our governing body is - they need every one they can get."

"But you're so young," the Tok'ra queen said softly. "Is your presence so important?"

Harry hesitated and then smiled. "It's kind of like with your rebellion," he then said. "There's Voldemort and his people, who are trying to take over and dominate those they think are inferior and impure. Then there is the Ministry, which is supposed to be protecting people but which is in the end doing nothing but making things worse. And then there is us precious few, caught in the middle, trying to somehow achieve peace. We're young, sure, but when there's so few in the side of our Order, I think every person counts."

"Your Order is like the Tok'ra," Egeria said thoughtfully.

"Kind of. In smaller, non-interstellar way. Non-global way even. But it's important," Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We need to go back. If we could figure out how to turn the bloody ship around somehow, we'd already be heading back as we speak, but… we have no idea how to operate the damn thing."

Egeria sighed, shifting idly from left to right. "Without knowing the design of the ship, I do not think I can help," she said after a moment. "I have been imprisoned for a very long time. I do not think I could advice you if the technology has advanced - and it most likely has."

"Yeah," Harry murmured, sighing. "Well, I'll help you for as long as I can, but getting home is kind of priority to us."

"I understand, and I appreciate the effort," the queen assured, before shifting forward a little. "How is it that you came by the ship, exactly?"

"By a bad case of even worse luck," the youth answered with a self deprecating chuckle, leaning back in his seat. "I was lured to a place I wasn't supposed to go, and my friends insisted coming along with me. I thought someone dear to me was held captive there, but… well. It was a trap - in place beneath our Ministry where the Ministry kept its secret, dangerous projects," he said, and shook his head. "We were ambushed and after some fighting and running, we were surrounded. We fought - and thought we were going to be killed - when a stray spell hit the ring platform beneath us, and…" he made a lifting motion. "Up we went. It saved our lives - and then got us perfectly stranded."

"That sounds somewhat lucky, actually," Egeria mused.

"Yeah, bit of very bad good luck," Harry chuckled. As his chuckles trailed away, he began to frown. "Five years, huh?" he murmured. "So long to make an antidote?"

"I thought I would be able to guide the Pangarians to it by then at the least," Egeria said. "It would be quicker, but limited technology and even more limited means of communicating, it will take much longer than it otherwise would."

The young man frowned, absently tapping his fingers against each other. "If you had a host?" he then asked.

Egeria hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, it would be quicker. But in good conscience, I cannot take a host. I am old - if I take a host now, it will be likely that neither I nor the host will survive. And if we would, our lifespan would be short due to my age and the damage done to my body - and most likely when I would die, so would my host."

"And… there is really no way to heal you?" Harry asked.

"Not unless you know the elixir of life," the queen answered with sad amusement. "It is alright, Harry. I have accepted my end."

The young man wasn't listening, though, but was instead staring at her with a deeply thoughtful look about his face. "I don't have any Elixir of Life, no… but I do have magic," he said, and suddenly stood up. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back," he said, and before Egeria could answer, he was already rushing out of the laboratory.

Soon he returned with several people in tow. Hermione walked next to Harry, with Ron right behind them. There was a brown haired youth Egeria recalled was called Neville, and beside him walked Luna, the blonde girl she seen when she had seen Harry and Hermione for the first time. Then there was a redheaded girl she had not yet met, but who she suspected to be from the same planet as the rest of them - the group that had been transported to the escape vessel and then brought to Pangar with Harry.

"… just if it is possible or not. I mean, there are lot of things we can do that muggles can - I mean, muggles can't regrow bones! So maybe there is something we have that could help her," Harry was saying, motioning ahead and towards Egeria's tank. "We have to have something, spells, anything. Hermione?"

"I'd love to help, Harry, I really would, especially after all we have learned," Hermione said, already shaking her head and looking regretful. "But I don't know any healing spells. And even if I did, I doubt they would do her any good. Human physiology is so vastly different from hers that I wouldn't dare to even try. I'm sorry."

Harry sighed, and then turned to look at the brown haired youth. "Neville, how about you? You must know some herbs that can help with something like this - even a little bit?"

"I guess I do, but most of that has pretty much the same problem as healing spells - different physique. Besides, this is a different world - even the basic grain and vegetables are all different here," his friend answered. "Even if there is something out there that might help, I wouldn't know where to even begin looking - and if I found something, it would take months if not years to figure out how to use it for anyone's good."

The black haired youth let out an impatient noise, turning his attention to Ron who lifted his hands in surrender before he could even ask anything. "Don't look at me," the red haired girl said immediately after. "I don't know anything about anything like this. Ask me how curse an annoying brother and I'll tell you how to do that, but this… this isn't my sort of stuff."

"Damn it," Harry muttered, turning away and to look at the last one left - Luna, who had made her way beside Egeria's tank. "Luna? Anything?" the black haired youth almost pleaded.

"Hmm," she answered, crouching beside the tank and tapping the glass with tip of her fingernail. "She is not a magical creature," the girl said after a moment. "But I think magic could cure her."

"Magic, really," Egeria murmured, wondering about the world where they came from. It was starting to seem a startlingly primitive.

"Yes, that's what I think too," Harry said impatiently, but it edge of hope in his voice. "What sort of magic?"

Luna glanced at him and then pointed at him. "Like you," she said, like it explained everything, and then turned to look at Egeria again. "A wizard would never need Tretonin, you know."

There was a moment of confused silence, before Harry snapped his fingers in realisation and turned to Hermione. "They wouldn't, would they?" he asked and she nodded slowly, realisation dawning. "Do you think it would work?" Harry pressed eagerly.

"What would?" Ron asked with confusion, while Neville and the red-haired girl changed bewildered glances.

"I… it might," Hermione said slowly. "Magic does work a little like Tretonin, if in completely different way. Actually, as far as I can understand the process of the blending of these symbiotes… magic has similar effects. Increased age, accelerated healing, resistance to diseases…" she trailed away, looking thoughtful. "It could work."

"Harry," Egeria hissed to interrupt. "What is your magic?"

The black haired youth blinked. "Magic is magic," he answered in a low hiss, looking confused. After a moment, he reached into his left sleeve and pulled out a wooden stick. Then, as shocked Egeria watched, he proceeded to list a chair from the floor without ever touching it. "This is magic."

"It's that device?" Egeria asked slowly, while staring at the floating chair. Around Harry, his friends were giving the black haired young man mystified looks.

"No, this just directs it. The magic is in here," Harry hissed, patting his chest. "Inside me. Inside all of us," he added, motioning at the others. "We were born with it."

At first Egeria was very tempted to say that it wasn't possible. But maybe… maybe it was. There were ways. Nanotechnology for one could potentially give a person the ability to control magnetic fields and levitate objects seemingly by thought alone. And then there was the theory of the Hok-Taur, though she had never believed in that particular -

Egeria's line of thought completely derailed, as she watched how Harry turned the flying chair into a great bird, which flew around the room once before landing on his outstretched arm. With her pincers wide open in shock, she stared at the great eagle sitting on the young man's arm. That, she knew for a fact, could not be done by _any_ means. Except perhaps by illusion of hologram technology, but she had never heard of anything like this before, not even by holograms.

"We're capable of this, and many other things. Back in our home world we're all still in school, though," Harry answered, while placing the bird back to the floor, and turning it back into a chair.

"Harry? What did she say?" Hermione asked.

"She asked about magic, so I demonstrated," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't think she believes me, though."

The brown haired girl bit her lip, before stepping forward. "Our kind generates certain type of energy, which we call magic because the term works pretty well for us," she said slowly. "We can, as Harry showed, manipulate the energy to move things without touching them, and temporarily transform something into something else - like chair into an eagle. We can also create effects like this," she added, bringing out her own stick, and creating what looked like northern lights, right into the room's ceiling. "This would be an illusion charm, it's not actually real. When we get older and more powerful, though, some of us gain the ability to make illusions temporarily physical. There are many other things we can do - like putting broken thing back together, healing a wound… it can be used in battle too, to attack, to defend…"

"And some of us can permanently change their own physical structure. Animagi can take the shape of an animal for as long as they choose to, though it's a tough one to learn. Metamorphmagi though are born with the ability to change their features, and they can look pretty much like anything they want to, with no illusions involved," Harry added.

"Incredible," Egeria whispered, as Hermione made the illusionary lights vanish again. Harry translated the word to others with a grin.

"Also, our kind is immune to normal diseases that plague humans. Of course we have our own brand of diseases, but that's a different thing," Hermione continued. "We heal quicker than normal humans do when we get hurt and unless the damage is very severe, we heal completely. For one, I don't think a wizard can ever have internal bleeding of any kind - magic repairs internal things pretty quickly."

"Really? I didn't know that," Ron murmured. "Huh. You learn something new every day."

"Magic works fastest where it is important," Luna added. "Heart, brain… spine…"

"We also tend to live longer," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Normal human life span is around sixty, seventy years - though some can go up to hundred if they're lucky. Wizards can live twice as long - trice, if they use certain potions."

"It could work," Harry murmured.

"You're not thinking that one of us should become host for her," the red haired girl said, shuddering a little as she looked at Egeria uneasily.

"Our magic would probably rejuvenate her," Hermione answered, she too looking at Egeria but in completely different way. "And with the symbiote's healing ability and magic working together, it would be a powerful mix."

"No," Egeria said while shaking her head before they could get any farther, making Harry whirl around to look at her. "I cannot."

"Why not?" he demanded. "It could heal you. Make you young again. You could help the Pangarians find the cure quicker - you could visit the spaceship, show us how to get home. You could -"

The queen sighed. "I need to keep on making my young for the drug - even if I had a host, making the antidote will take time. And I am old -"

"Yes, but if it was one of us, it wouldn't be a death sentence. With magic, you would probably live for years, decades - hell, centuries maybe, who knows," Harry said. "And we have spells to replicate liquids. We might be able to increase the Tretonin storages without you needing to sacrifice anymore of your young."

"Perhaps, but there are risks. If your magic works like a symbiote's ability to boost the host's immunity system, then it might be that your magic would fight me. Taking a host is not always ensured process - it fails quite frequently. It might end up being the death of one of you, and me - and then what would happen to the Pangarians? Then how would you get home?" she looked up to him seriously, ignoring the fatigue which was starting to rear its ugly head. "And which one of your friends would you risk?"

Harry stopped at that, closing his mouth and swallowing. "It's almost like you want to die," he said, almost accusingly.

"The possibility has its allure, I assure you. But more than that, I do not wish to be the cause of death for anyone else," Egeria answered. "Life is sacred."

By the way Harry's eyes steeled, she got the feeling that it might've been the wrong thing to say - or the very right one.

x

While the Pangarians took up the task of modifying the Tretonin manufacturing facility to suit the needs of manufacturing a cure for the drug, Harry took the task of writing everything Egeria said down. Egeria, though not at all sorry as it was good that her instructions on how the drug would be made were in written form in case of accidents, knew he had a hidden agenda. She could see it in the way he sometimes argued with his friends when ever they came by, and how the Pangarians looked at Harry every time he provided them with translations to the notes he was making.

He intended to save her - even more so than Hermione, who was quickly learning how to help around the medicine facility and studying the method the Pangarians were using to keep her. Egeria saw the differences in the two of them soon. Hermione wished to save her because of principle - she loathed slavery with a surprising passion for someone who didn't really know it or understand it. Harry, though, just wanted to save Egeria because he considered her his friend.

"He's always been like this," Hermione whispered to the Tok'ra when Harry was out to deliver last patch of the notes. "He fought a mountain troll back when he didn't even know spells just for me - and we had barely had a full conversation back then. If he has even the slightest reason to think you deserve it, he will go to hell and back to save you. That's Harry Potter in a nut shell."

As Egeria watched him and his friends, she began to believe the words too. He really had no ulterior motives, no personal agendas - he just wanted to make sure she lived. It was a strangely heady thing to realise - especially for Egeria, who had been so alone and without anyone for so long.

"You wish to blend with me," Egeria said once, when they had just finished going through another set of directions. "You want the notes out of the way so that you won't risk anyone else when it happens. Isn't that right?"

"Just about," Harry agreed without bothering to even try to look sheepish.

"You are an interesting human," Egeria sighed, amused despite herself. "You aren't going to give up until I bend, will you?"

"Nope," he agreed, and glanced up. "You don't mind it's me, right?" he asked. "I mean, I'm a bloke and all. But it can't be Hermione because if the blending fails, she's the last shot my friends have at getting home. And Ginny's, well, she has bad experiences with possession and I don't want to even think about asking her, it wouldn't be right. And Luna, well…" he shook his head. "I think her mind is best inflicted on her alone."

Egeria shook her head. "I'm not going to blend with you at all unless I know for certain all issues are resolved," she answered. She had to admit though, with the plans Harry was writing down, and all the Tretonin replication his friends were doing - which worked astonishingly well - he was well on his way to resolving that issue at least. And it was pretty impressive issue to resolve. But there were others. "Are you going to take me into your ship sometime soon, then?"

"Nope. I'm going to bring the ship to you," he answered, grinning.

The next day, he brought back first sketches and the day after that he brought drawings and finally a week later he had Hermione produce an illusionary copy of the ship's controls so that Egeria could examine it. It was impressive feat but very informing one as well. "It's a ship I know very well - I had one of my own, long, long time ago. I believe this ship belonged to Ra, that is his mark over there," she said, as Harry wrote everything down again. "I believe you can merely take the previous course the ship took and simply reverse it so that you return to where the ship last embarked upon. It shouldn't be difficult."

Still, she talked Hermione though the navigation system. "The location of your home planet will be recorded in the ship's logs," she said. "So is the autopilot fails, you can use that to set course for the ship," she said, and explained everything from accessing the ship's computer to manipulating the controls. Hermione, Egeria found, was extremely quick learner for a human.

In the mean while, the Tretonin manufacturing facility transformed into one suited for a medical experimentation. While Harry translated, the Pangarian scientists rushed back and forth between their test tubes and the Tok'ra queen, who taught them whole new medial procedures and had them building new medical equipment from scratch. None of it was nowhere near as sophisticated as the Goa'uld technology was, but it would do it's job here, not to mention about advancing the Pangar medical science by a few decades

"We are learning so much from you," Dollen, who was soon turning into a frequent visitor, said gratefully. "I dearly hope that once everything is ready, your blending with master Potter will be successful and we can continue learning from your example."

And Egeria, to her slight surprise, found herself wishing it as well. Especially after she birthed her last cycle of mindless children, after which the Pangarians announced that, with the new formula and with the shockingly expanded stores of Tretonin they now had thanks to the magicians, they no longer needed her young.

"No more, Egeria. You can rest now," Harry said, smiling, but she didn't agree, not quite. Because, despite everything, her condition was still relatively good - and it would take some time still to finish the notes Harry was making. There was time.

"I could… I could give birth to Tok'ra," she said slowly. "One cycle. _Please_."

She could've cried when the Pangarians heartily agreed.

x

"… could be heading back already," the red haired girl said, as she and Harry entered Egeria's new room. "Hermione thinks she can operate the ship as well as she's ever going to, so… we could be on our way to home. I don't see why we need to stay any longer."

"The Pangarians still need the notes for making the antidote," Harry answered, while pulling the curtains open and smiling towards Egeria, who stretched her neck sleepily. Her new tank, which the Pangarians had quickly gotten for her after finding out the old one was kind of small for her, was almost luxurious. Of course her weight made moving impossible - the birthing sack only carried her eggs at the moment and thus was mostly empty, but it still had considerable bulk, grounding her to the tank's bottom. Still, being able to stretch was something.

"And I won't be going anywhere before our blending," the black haired youth said, stepping closer to the tank. "Good morning, Egeria. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, my rest was pleasant," Egeria answered, and then cast a glance at Ginny, who recoiled slightly at the sound of her voice. To her it was probably nothing more than series of squeaks and shrieks.

"But Harry…" the girl started, looking away from the Tok'ra. "It's dangerous, isn't it? What if the blending will fail? You could die. Why does it have to be you anyway, why can't one of the Pangarians do it instead?"

"Because they don't have magic like I do. You know that Ginny," Harry answered resting his hand on the tank and turning to the human girl. "I'm not having this conversation again. We've all already agreed that we will see this to the end. Once the notes are finished and once we have at least tried the blending, then we will see about returning to Earth. I might or I might not come with you, we will see once the time comes."

"But... don't you want to go back home?" Ginny asked, frowning worriedly. "Everyone is waiting for us. I bet they are worried - we've been gone almost half a year now, and it will take so long to get back too!"

"Yeah, I do want to go home. But… I think I want to blend with Egeria more," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Come on, Harry, just because you feel responsible some how -"

"That's not it. I want to blend with her. I like her, and I think I'd love to spend the rest of my life with her," he answered, and the girl's expression got almost stormy. "I've already decided, and the others agree with me. They might not like it, but they've stopped arguing with me at least. Why can't you?"

The redhead cast uneasy look at Egeria and then sighed. "You could die," she whispered. "Can't it be someone else? Anyone else?"

"Who, then? You?" Harry asked, and grimaced as she took a quick step back. "Yeah," he agreed. "That's pretty much the reaction I got from everyone else. Well, except for Luna, but I think that goes without saying."

"I just…" the girl started and sighed again, heavier this time. "I don't want to lose you, Harry."

Egeria looked between the two curiously, wondering if they had some sort of romantic arrangement between them. She hadn't noticed anything like it before, and Harry had never said anything about it, but this conversation was turning quite interesting.

"I'm not going anywhere," the young man said, patting the girl's shoulder awkwardly - more like a friend, than anything more. "I'm still here."

Ginny looked at him for a moment, before rolling her eyes and lifting her hands in defeat. "I suppose I can't lose what I never really had," she muttered, glancing at Egeria. "Do you really want this prat?"

Egeria flashed her fins in amusement, while Harry reared back with outrage. "Oi," he objected. "Who are you calling a prat!"

"You. You're a great big old insensitive prat, the old fashioned kind. With emotional range of a tea spoon," the redhead snorted, waving a dismissive hand at him. "And I wash my hands of you." With that, she turned on her heels and headed off, shaking her head and muttering something under her breath.

"What was that about?" Harry asked after her, before glancing at Egeria. "Can you translate women speak for me?"

"It would go against the female code of honour, I believe," the queen answered, fins quivering with mirth.

Harry sighed, shaking his head at her. "Well then, how are you liking the new room?" he asked, looking around. "Well, you're still in a tank, of course, but it looks a bit better than gloomy bottom floor laboratory."

"It's nice to see sunlight, yes," Egeria agreed, shifting a little. "I don't feel so tired here either, though it might be because I don't have the weight of thirty symbiotes pressing down on me."

"I imagine that would make things easier," Harry agreed. "Shall we continue with the notes, then? The eggheads downstairs are eagerly waiting for the next set."

"By all means, let us continue," Egeria agreed and after he had settled down at near by desk, they continued their work.

She was somewhat certain that Ginny wasn't the only one who had argued against Harry's decision - all his friends probably had and often, judging by the defeated look about their faces. It was hard to decide what to think about it - worry, because of how important Harry obviously was for them exactly as he was, or be grateful for the fight Harry had fought and won just for her. No one had ever wanted to be her host this much - and she doubted that anyone ever would've either, if Harry had chosen otherwise.

Interesting human indeed.

As the days went by and Egeria's children, the new generation of Tok'ra which might end up being her last, grew inside her, it seemed like the world around her transformed. It struck her at times what a novel transformation it was - for so long her life and everything around it had seemed so gloomy. For so long she had only experienced the inside of unforgiving tank in equally unforgiving laboratory, always dark and gloomy and fairly depressing, only reminding her about the sad state of her life, the dark fate that had somehow befallen her. Like punishment for daring to hope against hope.

Of course, majority of that hadn't changed, whilst all of it had changed. She was still old and tired, and she suspected that the laboratory that had housed her for so long would never truly change - only now that she had been moved into a sunlit office in the top floor, she simply didn't have to see it anymore. She was still in pain and the Pangarians were still dependant on the Tretonin, but she had hope and they had hope, and the feeling of shared future ahead gave her strength she had always suspected she would never again feel in life.

The idea that it would've never happened had Harry and his friends not stumbled upon the ring transporter in their home world was oddly frightening. Such a small moment had changed everything - and that small moment could've just as well never happened.

Egeria, despite many regrets and even more nightmares, wasn't truly that inclined to mourn or wonder the past, so she left it behind her with relief, and embraced the time and journey ahead - however long or short it would be, it would no doubt be worth the risk and time.

x

In the end, Egeria and Harry finished making the instructions and notes for the Pangarians far before her cycle's end, leaving them with two weeks of nothing to do. That was only in theory though, as Egeria found that people still came to them for advice and instruction; how did this part of this machine go, how to stabilise this mechanism, how to improve the controls of this device. More often than not, it was about medicine. What works against this infection, what kind of medicine would work against this disease, what to do when this sort of injury occurs. All things they already knew how to deal with, but which they wished they had better ways of handling. Pangarian medicine science was, for humans, pretty good, but there was still large margin of error in every treatment, and they saw her as means of decreasing that margin.

She didn't mind. If she left a footprint on the medical sciences of Pangar, then that was perfectly alright with her. They were even starting a branch of medicine that used certain energy transmission and radioactive treatments derived from Goa'uld healing technology - they called this branch the Egerian Treatments, which despite the fact that she hadn't created the Goa'uld healing technology was still a homage she felt proud to have.

Mostly, though, what the Pangarian medical scientists came to her about was the Tretonin. With forty thousand people hanging on the balance, it was no wonder really, and there were many problems that needed to be dealt with in as much detail as possible. About four percent using the Tretonin who experienced some side effects to the drug - would the antidote work differently on them? How about the two percent that required double doses for the Tretonin to have effect? Or the ones that that rejected the drug initially, the tenth of a percentage, who were kept alive only by intravenous solution with minuscule doses of Tretonin introduced to their veins every hour?

There were problems and she answered them as best as she could, but human physiology was at times impossible to predict. This treatment might not work on that person, that treatment might have detrimental effects to another's. She calculated odds and doses and Harry wrote down dozens of theories of how to treat this and that sort of side effects, dealing with as many of the potential problems as possible. It wasn't perfect, the margin of error remained, and there were still people who reacted differently to Tretonin that might also react differently to its cure, but they did all they could.

In the mean while, Harry's friends came and vent, some to visit Harry every now and again, others taking actual part in the proceedings of the laboratories. Hermione had become an assistant in the experimental medicine laboratory, as she had a knack in assembling and fixing the machinery that Egeria instructed the people to make. Neville, on other hand, had became a student in the lower level botanical lab where the Pangarians were using what Egeria had given them to further their older medicine - most of which would be used to counteract possible negative reactions if the time came. Egeria didn't know what Ron and Ginny did, but Luna came and went like a ghostly wind, sometimes spending hours of just listening to Harry and Egeria, other times not showing up in days.

"They are restless and want to go home," Harry explained. "Ron and Ginny the most - they feel out of place here, though now that they got something to do around the archaeological sites, they don't complain as much."

"And Luna?" Egeria asked curiously.

"With her it's hard to say. She's learning and getting adjusted to, but she misses magic of home, I think. She won't complain, it's not her way, but when the time comes she'll be happy to leave," Harry sighed, shaking his head. "I don't blame her."

They were quiet for a moment, while Harry translated the notes he automatically wrote in ancient Goa'uld into human tongues. Egeria shifted a little, nudging the birthing sack with her crossed pincers, before sighing. Her young were growing rapidly, all twenty nine of them. "If our blending succeeds… what will happen?" she asked softly. "Will you wish to go home?"

Harry glanced up once, before turning his attention back to the writing. "I would… like to visit, at least. I would like to see the conflict back home resolved if nothing else - if I never find out what will happen in the war, it will haunt me forever. But it won't be just my decision - and after all the times you got your choice taken away from you, I won't force mine upon you," he answered and glanced around them. "I kind of like Pangar, though. I wouldn't mind staying."

Egeria hummed thoughtfully, nudging the sack again to stop one of her young pressing so uncomfortably against it. They were listening, she knew, that was why they were always pressing against the skin. It was curiosity her mindless young had lacked, but one she hadn't recalled could be so uncomfortable. "If our blending succeeds, your war will become mine. And mine will become yours," she said. "I suspect I will feel your desire to see it resolved."

"And I'll get your urge to see the Goa'uld beaten?" Harry asked thoughtfully. "That'll be interesting. I bet my problems with Voldemort will seem like nothing in comparison."

"Perhaps," Egeria answered, and looked up to him. "If it hadn't been for you and Hermione, I would still be in that tank in the bottom floor. If it hadn't been for Luna, the concept of us blending would've never come to us in this way. I am in your debt - so if you wish we return to your home, we will. In grand scheme of things, your war is small and lacks the significance of mine, but perhaps that means it might be resolved easier. And if we survive, we can always return here, and finish our work."

The young man nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair. "We'll talk about it again once we're blended," he finally said, and turned back to the notes.

Egeria nodded her head, knowing that trying to make decisions wouldn't be wise before they had finally the access to each other's memories and minds. Only then would any decision truly mean anything. It was wonderful that Harry too seemed to understand that - even if he was using it to avoid making any decisions now.

"I've been wondering about something, though," Harry said. "If our blending fails, what will happen to your Tok'ra children?"

Egeria started at that, and then quivered a little. "I had been hoping that perhaps the Pangarians would care for them until they are mature, and maybe… some of the Pangarians would consent to being hosts."

Harry looked at her seriously, before reaching for a new piece of paper and starting to write something down. "I've no doubt they will do the first at least," he said. "Dollen will be happy to, if nothing else - he feels honour bound. I don't know about the blending, though. Not that they wouldn't do it - some would just to keep the superior health they got from Tretonin. But they might do it for the wrong reasons."

"Sometimes the wrong reason is enough. One can't expect similar moral fortitude you display from everyone else," Egeria said. "Though of course I would wish my children to find worthy companions, I wouldn't dare to set my hopes so high."

"Well, I hope you'll excuse me while I do," Harry said, writing down furiously. Upside down, Egeria could see him writing a list of qualifications, and she didn't doubt a moment that Harry wouldn't be perfectly willing to take it to Dollen and demand that it be made very nearly into a law. "This is just in case though," Harry said, once he was finished. "Because if we survive, we'll be there to choose."

"Harry, there are limits to demands. You cannot expect everyone bow to your will," the Tok'ra queen said.

"You are saving tens of thousands of them. They can do this much for your kids - especially after all they did to them for decades," Harry said sternly, standing up. "Besides, when we blend, your kids will feel like mine, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, but …"

"Well then. As long as I have any say in the matter, my kids will have only the best," the black haired young man grinned - it was an oddly sharp expression. "I'll be right back," he said, waving the list he had made. "I have some things to arrange."

Egeria watched with something like helpless amazement, as the youth headed off to make preparations for her children. Hermione had been right when she had said what she did. Given half a reason, Harry would go hell and back for anyone he thought deserved it. "He will be a formidable host," the queen whispered to herself, remembering gentle and kind Liviana who had almost always deferred to Egeria's will…and knowing that Harry would be nothing like the Roman girl had been.

The following day, Dollen visited her with Harry and group of people who had consented to becoming hosts. Majority of them were scientists from the facility, people Egeria had seen before, to whom she had even talked through Harry. She was a little surprised but not exactly shocked to see them there, eagerly offering themselves to the possibility.

"Now that we understand the true blending of a Tok'ra and a human, and that you are an understanding and a benevolent race, many of us would seriously consider such a blending," Dollen explained. "Not just for the health benefits, not even for the increased lifespan, but the wisdom and knowledge that is shared."

Egeria nodded, understanding this very well. Thousands of years ago, people had consented to housing her first Tok'ra young for similar reasons - and they hadn't understood them as well as the Pangarians did. These people, however, had witnessed some of her knowledge and been essential part in bringing forth her plan, so they understood the extend of what a blending would offer.

"I don't much care for the fact that they want to blend just to get some knowledge," Harry muttered in the mother tongue of Goa'uld, making Egeria flash a dismissive fin at him.

"Knowledge is always an admirable motive," she informed him, well pleased with the offerings. Still, she had to make sure that they understood what they were signing for, and had Harry explain them the Tok'ra rebellion, the war that even now she felt the desire to fight.

"Being part of the Tok'ra might mean that one day the System Lords will seek out means to defeat you, perhaps even destroy you," Harry translated with a frown. "They have done far worse for lesser reasons than this. Tok'ra-Pangarian alliance might very well paint a target on your planet."

"Judging by from what we have learned from you, that day might be ahead of us regardless," Dollen said thoughtfully. "We are a peaceful people, but we are advancing - and not just in medical science. With this new knowledge and with what we have learned from what the Goa'uld left behind, our sciences will develop even further. Already some of our scientists are working on protective and counteractive measures in case the Goa'uld return. And as far as we can understand, these sorts of advancements aren't exactly endorsed by the Goa'uld."

"No, they are not. And if you pose any sort of risk, real or imaginary, they will seek to destroy you. Sometimes for no better reason than because they simply can," Harry translated again, glancing at Egeria like wondering if she knew what she was doing. But she wasn't about to lie to these people and potentially cause their downfall. "Tok'ra presence on this planet would only increase the risk."

"But with Tok'ra on our side, we might have ways of defending ourselves," the politician countered. "Perhaps even fighting back."

Egeria bowed her head at that, while the scientists around the tank nodded their heads and exchanged whispers, some agreeing, others disagreeing, but apparently not changing their minds about the blending. "Very well," she said. "I will have twenty nine children, so twenty nine hosts are required. However, my children have the right to chose for themselves and they might not choose the ones you suggest."

"Of course," Dollen said. "Several extra candidates will be selected, and when the time comes, we will look to your young to see whom they chose. I trust they will be capable of understanding us if master Potter is incapable of aiding our communication?"

"They can understand you, and shake or nod their heads in answer. That should be sufficient, as long as you ask the right questions," Egeria said, feeling very satisfied with the arrangement. Long ago, when finding hosts for her first generation of Tok'ra, it had been hard work, and her children had died without hosts. Never before had there been so many offers - so genuine ones. "The Tok'ra-Pangarian alliance will be great," she said softly.

x

"… it just has me wondering, is all," Egeria could hear one of Harry's friends speak, as she surfaced from her sleep. It was the brown haired one with a kind face, Neville, who worked with the plant based medicine. "The whole facility has been talking about it since the notification came up, they've even compiled this list about benefits - they've posted it in the wall at the laboratory. It says that… that a Tok'ra symbiote can cure just about all illnesses - and injuries."

"Well, not all of them, I doubt even a symbiote could heal a chopped-off leg or something serious like that, but yeah, there is definite healing factor involved," Harry answered, his back towards Egeria's tank as he spoke. He had his arms folded, and his tone was serious, though, so Egeria knew it wasn't idle conversation. "You thinking of becoming a host, Neville? I didn't know you were sick."

"I'm…. I'm not, obviously," the other human answered awkwardly, running his hands over his hair. "But… but my parents…"

"Ah," Harry murmured. "I see… You think a symbiote might cure them?"

"Well… I don't know, that's why I'm asking you," Neville said, sighing heavily. "Harry, they've tried everything back on Earth, every treatment they could think of - for the last five or so years, they've even been trying experimental medicine on them. But the damage is just… too scattered to do anything about. Small injuries all over their brains, impossible to ever fix it all. Or even fix part of it. But a symbiote, as far as I can tell, the whole thing works… kind of naturally? I mean, they boost your own ability to heal? So maybe, with a symbiote, they might be able to… to heal themselves?"

"I don't know, Neville, I really don't. It's been almost fourteen years since your parents were… tortured, isn't it?" Harry asked. "The healing ability of the symbiotes is amazing, but it's got some limits too. It's still just healing, not regeneration. Egeria has already told me that she can't heal all my old scars and such - though they may fade a bit, they won't be completely gone."

"Yeah, Hermione said that too, but… can you at least ask her?" Neville pleaded. "If it's impossible, then at least I'd know and won't have to keep wondering and hoping."

Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair, before glancing at Egeria over his shoulder. "Egeria, you're awake," he hissed, turning to face her. "Did you hear what Neville asked?"

"Yes," the queen answered, shifting a little. "I suppose the heart of the matter is brain damage. What sort of damage is it?"

Harry considered it for a moment before folding his arms again. "We have a curse that causes pain - lot of pain," he then said. "It's forbidden by law for obvious reasons - but also because if you're put under it for too long, you go insane. That's what happened to Neville's parents," he added, and glanced at Neville, changing the language to the one the human would understand. "Do you know what exactly the damage is?"

"The way the healers explained it… it's little bit of everything. The curse works on the cellular level, damaging just about every cell in the brain when it's cast - usually it's repaired immediately in wizards, but prolonged exposure…" Neville trailed away. "I believe the insanity is caused because, while magic can to extend cure a person, afterwards everything doesn't flow right. Memory, motor skills, ability to hold onto the present, even things like senses and such, they all get messed up."

"You know a lot about it," Harry noted.

"My parent's been like this for as long as I can remember. Trust me when I say I found out everything I could about their condition," Neville shook his head, and turned to Egeria. "My parent's don't remember my name, or my grandmother's. They live in delusions and sometimes get trapped in their own senses. They can walk, for a while, but after that they just forget - and though they can talk, sometimes they only manage gibberish."

Egeria nodded slowly, thinking about it. It didn't sound like any brain damage she had heard of. Sometimes getting trapped in their senses, sometimes forgetting how to walk, sometimes speaking only gibberish… it meant that sometimes, they managed all that perfectly. How can someone with permanent brain damage go back and forth like that?

Unless the magical healing factor was playing part in it.

"How long does it usually take between times when his parents can walk, and times when he can't?" Egeria asked thoughtfully. "Or the times when they can talk and when they speak gibberish?"

"It's hard to say. They tend to have relapse of some sort once or twice a day," Neville answered after Harry's translations. "Sometimes when I visit them, they're almost coherent, but they decline before my eyes. Sometimes, they've just had a relapse and are unconscious, but they might wake up and talk to me almost as if they know me."

Egeria nodded again and then glanced at Harry. "How good are the regenerative abilities of wizards? Judging by what your friends said, wizards do not suffer things like internal bleeding, so the internal damage is repaired quickly, so fast that it never becomes an issue. How about brain damage?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, before asking the question from Neville, who folded his arms in thought. "I know this, I've heard about it somewhere," the brown haired magician murmured, frowning. "Yes, one of the nurses referred to a case abroad, about a wizard who got shot in the head with a muggle gun. They managed to stabilise him and keep him from dying, and in the end he made a complete recovery - because the magic regenerated the lost tissue. She was wondering why something like that couldn't happen with Cruciatus victims."

"Cruciatus is the pain curse," Harry explained before Egeria asked. Egeria, though, hadn't even been about to ask - she was too busy thinking about the possibilities.

"If your magic works like I think it does, then it's a much potent healing factor than that of the Goa'uld," she started. "Normal humans cannot regenerate brain tissue - it's not possible with their current level of evolution. However, that's a bit irrelevant. I think what's happening is that the two humans in question go through cycles of regeneration and rejection. Their magic heals the damage done, bringing them into coherency for a moment. However, soon after their bodies somehow reject the healing, perhaps due to some after effect of the curse, causing the healed parts to be possibly consumed by cellular defensive feature present in magicians - or perhaps by magic itself."

"Okay," Harry said slowly, before quickly relaying the information to his friend. "Does that mean that a symbiote could heal Neville's parents?"

"It might be possible, though I am not perfectly certain. I would need to see what is happening in their minds, their brains, to know for sure. But part of a symbiote's ability is to effect certain cellular alterations in the host body - that is how we can direct our own regenerative capabilities to vital sections instead of all around the body in case the host is injured," Egeria answered. "If the injury works the way and your magic works the way I assume, then it might work."

Neville sat down after Harry relayed the message to him. "Well," he sad, a little breathless and wide eyed. "Well, that's… that's something."

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Harry warned him. "There are still lot of stuff we don't know. For one, we don't know if magic and symbiote can go together - it might be that two healing factors involved are so strong that they reject each other."

"Still, it's something, and if your blending with Egeria works out, then… then it's more than something," Neville said, shaking his head. "Harry, I haven't had hope in years, if ever. I don't think I've ever actually thought that I might see my parents healthy and whole again. And they've been like that for so long… At this point any smallest chance…"

The two of them fell into silence, while Egeria nudged at her birthing sack. The young inside were again trying to listen in, making the skin stretch at an awkward place.

"You think they would be happy about finding symbiotes inside of them, even if those symbiotes had happened to heal them?" Harry asked. "If that was possible, I mean."

"They've been locked up in a ward at St. Mungos without any help or hope for almost fifteen years," the other human said. "I think they'd be happy to be healthy again, no matter what means were used to make it happen. I think they would understand."

Harry hummed and then nodded. "We'll look into it," he promised. "But before we try the bending and see how magic and symbiote work together, there's not much we can do. So, we'll talk about this again, once I and Egeria are blended," he said. "We should know more about the whole thing by then. Alright?"

"Okay," Neville nodded and smiled shakily. "Thanks, Harry. It means much to me."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I hope we can help you, when the time comes."

Neville nodded, and while Egeria crooned through the sack to soothe her overly curious children, the two humans sat in compassionate silence.

x

The day after, Egeria cycle came to an end and she begun giving birth.

For the first time in over twenty years, giving birth was a happy occasion for Egeria - for the first time, the scientists weren't there watching, eagerly waiting to take her young away. Instead, only Harry was there, resting his hand against the glass as one after another, the prim'ta pushed through the sack's opening, and into the meagre freedom of the tank. Egeria watched them with a feeling she couldn't have known how to describe if someone had asked to, but thankfully, Harry didn't seem to feel the need to ask.

"They're smaller than I thought they'd be," he murmured instead, as the pale symbiote infants flitted back and forth in the tank's fluid, brushing against the glass where his hand rested, feeling an echo his warmth. "Paler too."

"This is the larval stage when they are still developing. In few years' time, they will shed their skins and emerge fully developed, with fins such as mine. After that they will be required to take a host," Egeria said, using her pincers to shed one of her young of a lingering thread of the nutrient veins which had connected them to her. She glanced up as another young Tok'ra brushed against the glass where Harry's hand was. "They like you."

"Wicked," Harry whispered, grinning.

Egeria would've smiled at his enthusiasm, had she been able. She satisfied the urge by nodding. "You have done much for us, and they feel gratitude. As do I. It has been so long," she said, as another of her young broke free from the birthing sack, and tested his new surroundings. "I did not think I would again be able to birth children, my true children. I did not dare hope."

"I'm happy for you," the human said softly, tapping the tank's glass, when one of the young symbiotes flared its pincers slightly at him. Harry grinned a little wider, as the young Tok'ra flared again, and then swum away as fast as he could. "They seem spirited."

"Yes," the queen agreed, and shifted to help the next one to get out. "They will need that."

The birthing lasted only for about half an hour, and then the tank seemed even more crowded than it had before - it was inevitable, with twenty nine larval symbiotes swimming left and right and exercising the muscles they hadn't gotten the chance to use in her birthing sack. Egeria watched them with satisfaction she hadn't felt in decades, in centuries. Twenty nine new Tok'ra, strong and curious - in the care of a world that now welcomed them with open arms. It was truly something she had never dared to even dream.

"I shall detach myself from the birthing sack now, so do not be alarmed," Egeria said to Harry, who was watching her young flit back and forward with amusement. "And please, let the Pangarians know that they can leave the sack into the tank. It will break apart soon, and my young will get nutrients from it."

"Alright," Harry agreed, and then watched how rib by rib Egeria released her hold on the sack's supporting spine, and then tore the weak membrane between her and the sack open. The freedom that followed was _magnificent_. The sack had been weighing her down for so long, that she had almost forgotten how light she actually was - how easy it was to move. Not as easy as it was for her young children, though - she had been motionless for so long, that her body felt the after effects and her swimming was jerky and clumsy for a while.

"Better?" Harry asked, as Egeria settled onto the bottom for a moment to rest, and watch her young who still kept on swimming in excited circles.

"Much," she agreed, and nudged her head against one of the prim'ta, who ducked to rub against her fondly.

"Good," the human nodded, leaning forward a little to listen. "Can your kids talk yet? I can hear squeaks and some hisses, but I can't make out the words."

"They can understand, but it will take a few days of growth before they can communicate back. After that I imagine the tank will be filled with their chatter as they talk amongst themselves," Egeria answered, glancing up to him. She hesitated for a moment, before lifting her head. "I'll be ready to attempt blending any time now," she said, and immediately the activity in the tank ceased as every young symbiote turned their attention to the human who would be their queen's host.

Harry nodded, smiling at her. "We'll do it tomorrow," he said.

Egeria bowed her head in agreement, knowing he probably wanted to say his goodbyes to his friends in case the blending went wrong. She didn't mind, it would give her some time to instruct her children as well. "Tomorrow," she said, and together they watched her young swim and strengthen.

x

In the next day, Harry came to Egeria's room with all his friends, and several Pangarians, including both Governor Dollen and Commander Tegar, both whom apparently wished to witness the blending. On Egeria's and Harry's suggestion, there was a gurney ready along with a medical doctor, who would take care of them if there would be complications.

"As you sure? Really, really sure?" Hermione asked Harry, who approached the tank, tapping his finger against the glass in greeting to the younger Tok'ra. "Harry, the risks…"

"I'm sure," the black haired human answered simply, and turned to look at Dollen and Tegar. "You'll follow the guidelines and instructions if this goes wrong?"

"To the letter, master Potter," Dollen answered. "We are confident that we can manage to proceed as planned even if… even if we do not have your guidance to aid us."

"And you five?" Harry asked, turning to his friends, all whom looked decisively nervous - with the exception of Luna, who had already moved forward and was staring Egeria's children in fascination.

"We'll be able to pilot the ship home," Hermione nodded, a little bright eyed. "We even have some idea on how to fix it if something goes wrong," she added with a sad chuckle.

"Are you really sure, mate?" Ron asked, stepping forward. "Maybe one of us -"

Harry shook his head, smiling. "No, I want to do it - I like her. And I wouldn't anyone of you risk yourselves like this. You have families waiting for you."

"So do you," Ginny said softly.

"Not really," he disagreed, turning to Egeria. "Are you ready?" he asked, still smiling, seemingly not at all nervous.

"Yes," Egeria agreed, and sprung up from the bottom and towards the surface. As she did, her young quickly rushed towards her, brushing against her fondly and chirping and squeaking their good lucks and farewells as best as they could. She answered in kind, whispering them her affection, before coming to the surface. "Take me and hold me close to your face. I will enter through your mouth."

Harry nodded, and as everyone, humans and symbiotes alike, watched, he took Egeria gently to his hands. They were warmer and little rougher than she had expected, but sure - the lack of nervousness wasn't a mere act, he really wasn't nervous. She couldn't wait to blend and find why not - even the most welcoming hosts tended to be nervous just before blending.

"Come," Harry said, and held her close. She let out a wordless chirp of gratitude and triumph, and rushed forward, taking the welcome he so easily offered, and loving him a little more because of it.

Taking a host had never been so disorienting, she found. Instinct drove her to push through the back of his throat and find a snug place in his spine, comfortable and sheltered by his flesh. That was, however, the only comfortable thing she experienced upon entering.

At first she thought that his blood was tainted with poison - it seemed to burn against her skin and try and dry her in a way human body or blood never had. Then, almost immediately after, his blood was soothing her in turn, healing the damage it had done, healing it even better - making her feel like her skin had suddenly became younger and tougher. At first she thought that this was Harry's magic, first rejecting her and then accepting her. Soon she found how mistaken she was - that it was really only his blood she had experienced.

Magic, she found as it crashed down upon her and squeezed all around - and then inside - her, was something completely different. Until the last moment she had thought that it was a mere ability, a genetic advance - that Harry was perhaps the legendary Hok-Taur Goa'uld had been trying to create for thousands of years. But no, it wasn't like that at all - magic and Harry were as much separate as they were one, and it almost felt like it had a mind of it's own. That mind, that incredible, magnificent power, was testing her, trying to figure out what she was - if she was a risk, if she needed to be destroyed.

She had never felt anything like it. It was warm and cold and temperate all at once. It hurt and soothed, it burned and froze, it was there and it wasn't, it was physical and nothing like it - it was energy, it was vacuum, it was incredible, it was _terrifying_.

Then Harry was there as well. '_Let her in, let her in, I want her, I welcome her, let her in, let her join,'_ whispering somewhere in the distance which was nothing like usual human-Tok'ra union. And the magic, still flickering at her both in body and mind, slowly receded. And then, as Harry breathed in and out and willed her to survive, magic pushed forward again, surrounding her with new determination - not to examine her anymore, because now it knew her. No, this time magic pushed forward to _heal_.

Even sarcophagus, the few times in her youth when she had experienced it, hadn't felt like this. It felt what she assumed it felt for humans when a symbiote healed them. It took what she had, her cells, her own healing ability, her very essence and genetic structure, and then it started to empower them. It was pure and incredible, neither good nor bad, but very, very present. It teased her cells and urged them to rejuvenate, giving them power they lacked. It pushed into the damaged parts and nudged and prodded until they were soft, and then healing - missing parts going as far as growing back. It didn't make her young, she could tell that, but it made her whole, healthy - like she would be, had the years of containment and experimentation never happened.

Only distantly she felt how Harry staggered, and was lifted to the gurney, how people chattered worriedly around them and talked. She could hear Harry answering them: "We are fine. I think my magic is tending to Egeria. It will probably take a while," he said and, answering a question: "It's incredible; I've never felt anything like this. I think it's because of her, but I've never felt my magic so… well before. I can actually follow it inside me. It's like… woah."

There was a distance between Egeria and Harry, a barrier even, and she knew without pain of doubt that this was _nothing_ like Tok'ra usually was. She knew in that moment that she would never be able to control Harry - that their communion wouldn't be graciousness and charity from her part, with her allowing him to gain control because it was her will. No, magic itself would not allow it, because it was Harry, and not her. Magic would always keep that distance. Harry would always have primary control - and it would be his graciousness that they both would live by, him letting her have control if he so wished.

It was frightening, terrifying even, and even as she healed and felt stronger, she almost wished she had a normal human host instead - because Harry was powerful in ways she had never thought human could be. But in the same time, she had never felt so sheltered before either, so well guarded, so well cared for. Despite the fact that Harry was the young one and she was thousands of years old, under the power of his magic, which felt ancient, as old as the stars themselves, she felt like an infant. It was disconcerting and humbling.

Then she felt something else, as Harry urged magic to release some of the barrier, to allow them to blend. She expected to see his memories and was already pushing her own forward to show him, to let them get to know each other in way only Tok'ra and their host could. But it wasn't Harry.

'_We aren't alone in here,'_ she whispered to Harry in their minds, feeling him jerk up at that. It wasn't just magic either, no; there was a fourth entity present. It felt chaotic, messy even, with malice radiating from it like cold warmth, unnatural and unnerving. Barely sentient or intelligent, but incredibly malicious. Egeria could feel how Harry's magic had tried to isolate it - perhaps years and years ago - to a section of Harry's being where it's effect would be minimum, but it was still there, and recently it had broken through the isolation. It had rooted into Harry's brain like infection or a plant, and she could almost see it, how it was getting stronger.

'_Voldemort!'_ Harry answered, and immediately she knew. Of his parents, how they had been killed, of him, how Voldemort had kill him with a curse which had failed. She knew of the scar and how it ached when Voldemort was near, she knew of the bond between them - of _parseltongue_, which was so close to mother tongue of Goa'uld that they could've been the same. She knew of the visions and the nightmares, of Legilimency and Occlumency, supernatural mind arts of wizards. She knew, with perfect clarity, that Voldemort had tried to possess Harry, and for a moment had even succeeded in it.

And she knew what the malicious entity was. '_It's the bond. What he left behind when the curse failed. Piece of him,'_ she said, rising up, speeded by magic which was now aiding her like it could sense her intention and was in perfect agreement. The entity was an intruder, like a Goa'uld, trying to take control. Except it was worse, it wasn't like a parasite, but like a disease, infecting and sapping Harry's strength as it grew. _'Should I kill it?'_

Harry hesitated only for a moment before hissing, in parseltongue, in Goa'uld, in pure unhindered thought and emotion. _'Please do.'_

It was unlike any battle she had ever fought. She had incredibly powerful ally, magic, at her side - it almost felt like there was a friendly Asgard ship hovering above her head, its weapons and shields giving her support as she stepped out to have a fist fight with someone. Except the opponent wasn't quite like her, it wasn't quite physical, so it was like fighting against shadow. But it was shadow surrounded by so much light that its defeat was inevitable.

But they couldn't kill it. They _couldn't_. Together Egeria and Harry's magic, which felt even more like entity of its own now, managed to diminish it by a hundred fold, but it remained rooted in Harry, resilient like an old stain - sitting right atop the centre of Harry's very life. It lost the strength it had gained over the years, returning to the way it had been when it had first infected Harry, but it couldn't be killed. It shouldn't be.

_'I can't kill it,_' Egeria wailed, partly in anger and partly in frustration. _'If I do, you'll die!'_

She could feel Harry thinking it through, but the thoughts were a blur of disappointment and frustration, realisation and mild disgust, nothing clear enough to tell what he was really thinking. _'Leave it,'_ Harry's thought finally broke through. _'It's been there a long time without causing any damage. Whatever strength it's gained since Voldemort was resurrected is gone now, so it shouldn't cause as much trouble. We can figure out what to do about it later.'_

'_Yes,'_ Egeria agreed, though knowing that it was there at all was making her uneasy. She shifted away, feeling as Harry's magic shifted and isolated the parasitic entity of Voldemort once more. It seemed that the magic had learned from the first time - the prison felt strong and secure this time, leaving the entity still there but contained in a bubble. _'It's… it's amazing. I've never felt anything like this,'_ Egeria admitted softly.

_'Yes,'_ Harry agreed in a whisper, and outside he closed his eyes so that he wouldn't be distracted. _'I have never felt my magic like this either. It's been present always, I think… but not like this. Not this clearly.'_

Egeria hummed. _'Show me,'_ she requested

_'And you show me,'_ Harry agreed, and together they threw open their personal barriers, and let each other see into their memories, into their pasts.

Harry was young, but his mind was older and more mature than he was - especially now, with such a terrible mistake behind him. Egeria glimpsed it for a moment, before looking beyond it and to the beginning, wishing to experience things in order. Harry hadn't had a happy childhood, she soon found. He had lost his parents to Voldemort, and been given to his mother's sister, who had loathed him, whose whole family had loathed him. They hadn't had magic, nor had they understood it, and they had taken it out on him.

_'I don't blame them. Not really,'_ Harry thought - and he actually meant it too.

As she learned all that, Egeria could feel the reverse in effect. Harry could remember Egeria's mother, Queen Nut, and how Ra had sought her out when she had been young. Ra had wanted to make her his queen, and Egeria had eagerly agreed as it was a position of great power. But Ra had wanted to see her worth before, so he had given her tasks to perform. Many of them had been horrible atrocities, with her leading battles and massacres that had resulted in death of countless humans and Jaffa. Others had been cunning deceits, sometimes towards Ra's rivals, sometimes towards his allies, sometimes towards mere humans or Jaffa. She had become good at deceit and death in those times.

_'I will never forgive myself for that,_' she thought sadly. _'I will spent the rest of my life atoning.'_

Harry had found his salvation in magic, in more ways than one. It had always been his, but when he had became aware of it - when he had been called to a school where they taught one to control it - it had became real. He had gained the very control of his life, or so it seemed. And it had been all he had never dared to even hope - he had never loved anything quite like he had loved magic. Even when some hated him for it and had been jealous, even when he had been shacked with fame that he hadn't felt he deserved, it had been _brilliant_. He had made friends, accomplished tasks - fought against a teacher and a murderer and saved a stone that, amusingly enough, did make the actual Elixir of Life that Egeria had once spoken of.

_'I still don't know if I killed Quirrell or if Voldemort did it,'_ Harry admitted.

For Egeria, the assignment in Rome had been the turning point of her very existence. Ra had sent her there to seduce and control the newly crowned ruler, Numa Pompilius, who had proven to be cunning and wise, winning the support of his human subjects quickly. Ra had even suspected that Numa Pompilius had been a Goa'uld, and had wanted Egeria to find out. If he was, she had been meant to kill him - and, if possibly, somehow to gain the control of Roman Empire. She had been surprised when she had found that human king had been indeed that - a human king, not a Goa'uld. But Numa had been so brilliant, so well learned, that it had at time astonished her. Then she had found out about his teacher.

_'In a way I suppose I should thank Ra - if he hadn't sent me on the assignment, I would've never met him,_' Egeria thought fondly.

Harry's second year in Hogwarts had been worse than the first one. It had begun with an escape from his family and with incident involving a flying car that had very nearly gotten him expelled. Then, eventually, the school had fallen under attack by unseen enemy - and somehow, people had come to blame him, whispering behind his back. For a twelve year old boy, it had been shocking experience, but Harry had learned fast, adapted even quicker, and held his head up high. Even when the blames grew louder, even when one of his dear friends had been attack, he had held his head high. And when the time had came, he had wielded a sword with courage, and despite his lack of skill he had slain a monster - and nearly been killed by it. He had saved Ginny, and regained his status as a hero. But the memory had remained.

_'I'm not exactly bitter, I can understand, but…'_ Harry almost felt like he was shrugging his shoulders as he thought this.

Though Numa had worshipped him as one, Janus hadn't been a god. Egeria wasn't sure what he had been, but Janus was brilliant beyond human or Goa'uld intelligence - and with imagination no Asgard could ever hope to have. He was full of new ideas and new theories, always going and moving and so very much in love with human potential. He had known the moment they had met that Egeria hadn't been neither a water nymph Numa saw her as nor a human, and he hadn't cared. Queen Mother, he had called her, and dazzled her with his brilliance.

_'I didn't know I could love, before I fell in love with him,'_ Egeria whispered in her thoughts, holding the memory of his face close. _'In a way, you remind me of him.'_

Harry's third year at Hogwarts had been full of shadows and whispers and unseen threats of a murderer and shades that ate souls. Regardless of the nightmares and the helpless fear for the Dementors, however, he still remembered it as his happiest year in the school because of one man, Sirius Black, the very murderer than had been supposedly looking to kill him. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, the true family he had always wanted and never quite had - a link to his past, to his parents, to the things he had never experienced. Saving him with feat of powerful magic and time travelling was still the greatest thing Harry thought he had ever done.

_'The only thing I feel sorry about is Pettigrew's escape. If only Sirius had been cleared, found innocent like he was supposed to…_' the thought was heavy with Harry's regret.

Egeria had been suspicious of Janus's intentions, of course, but had been drawn to his brilliance like a moth to a flame. His enthusiasm had been infectious, and when he really gotten the chance to talk about his hopes and dreams and ideas, it had been impossible not to get sucked in. What Egeria had found the most amazing about the man, was that Janus had always had a knack for predicting events to come. He had known she would come, he had known she would befriend Numa Pompilius, he had known she'd become his water nymph advisor, and he had known she'd take the name Egeria for herself, and that it would become hers permanently. He had also known that one day she would be the origin of a rebellion.

_'He never told me how he knew,'_ Egeria sighed, though she didn't feel as sad about that as she was of how short their time together had been.

Harry's fourth year had been a challenge after another, as he had been thrust into a tournament he hadn't wanted to take a part in. What had been greatest trial for him in that time, however, had been the fall-in he had had with his best friend. He had understood Ron's motivations and reasoning, he had understood the background and never really blamed his friend… but the abandonment had stung. It hadn't stopped him from renewing the friendship - but he felt he had still been reeling from it when the tournament had twisted and turned him, playing with his fame and name, and finally thrust him in front of recently resurrected Lord Voldemort.

_'I wish I had been able to save Cedric. He didn't deserve his end,_' Harry thought.

Janus had shown Egeria the truth, the wonder and the magnificence of human race. There was potential in them, beyond what the Goa'uld could see - beyond even the myths of Hok-taur. It wasn't about their bodies, or their brains, but their hearts - and about the curiosity that they had, which so many other races completely lacked. Goa'uld especially. It wasn't all Janus had showed her, or all he had taught her, but it had been the most important of the things she had learned, and when he had left, mere months into their friendship, it was the lesson about humanity she hung onto the tightest.

_'And I always will,'_ Egeria swore.

Harry's fifth year in Hogwarts had been worse than the rest, but it had a better beginning than any other. He had been able to spend it with his godfather and many other sympathetic to the cause he had been fighting for almost five years - or perhaps all his life. The Order of the Phoenix, so much like the Tok'ra, had been a beacon of strength and hope for him, even when the Ministry of Magic had denied everything about Voldemort and send a horrible woman to Hogwarts to stop the truth from coming out. Harry started his own small undercover movement in form of DA, and taught many of his friends and classmates how to fight and defend themselves. They needed that, he had felt. And he had been right.

_'I can't say I've ever been that good at making decisions, but going to Department of Mysteries that night… that was maybe the worst one,'_ Harry sighed. _'Or maybe the best one.'_

Egeria had befriended Numa Pompilius and done everything Ra had told her to do completely wrong. She had taught Numa philosophy that went against Goa'uld beliefs, and showed him how rule and govern his people well. Numa had been wise and cunning indeed, and Egeria had never been so happy to fail so badly. Ra had been in midst of a war back then, too busy to notice, and when he had thought to recall her, he hadn't been all that interested in results. In grand scheme of things, Roman Empire had been nothing to him - of which she was glad.

_'Of all civilisations of Earth, __Rome__ was the one Goa'uld never touched,'_ she remembered, proud and thoughtfully. _'I wonder if Janus…'_

The vision leading Harry to the Department of Mysteries had been false, but had felt incredibly real. Now he knew that it was because of the piece of Voldemort - it had been manipulating him - but that didn't stop him from feeling ashamed. Not for falling into the trap, but leading his friends into it as well. Even if it had led him to the Ring Transporter, into the escape vessel Ra had left behind, and eventually to Egeria, he wished he could've done it all without causing so much trouble for his friends. He wished he could've felt the same homesickness they did - as it was, all he missed was Sirius, and even him distantly. Maybe if he did, their relationships wouldn't have been falling apart now.

_'They don't understand how I can accept alien culture so easily, and welcome it,'_ Harry thought, partly amused, partly sad. _'They don't understand this is the second time it's happened to me.'_

Egeria had hid her new beliefs for a while, hiding among Ra's people and giving birth to what might've as well been a whole different race of Goa'uld. Eventually Ra had found out. When he had discovered her teaching a human, he had begun to get suspicious despite her assurances that a learned host was better than stupid one. When she had tried to free humans meant to become slaves, he had unearthed her, and it had been all over for her. For a while, it had been pain, endless torment as he had tried to find out what she had done. Then oblivion, as Ra had taken her out of her host, killing poor sweet Liviana. Final thing Egeria had seen before the stasis jar had been sealed was Ra, glowering down on her.

_'Merciful heavens how I hope my children managed to hide and survive,_' she thought.

And then, they were in harmony.

Egeria felt Harry's mind surrounding her, and together they mourned and rejoiced their pasts, and felt solace in their union. He knew things of her no one else ever again would and she knew things even he would've never shared with anyone willingly. Harry's hate for Voldemort became hers, Egeria's hate for the Goa'uld became his, and likewise she shared his love for his friends while he too felt the love for Janus. Her admiration for humans and imagination was mirrored in him, his incredible capacity for caring was echoed in her, and all around them magic enveloped them, until it was hard to tell where one entity of the three started, and where another ended.

It was beautiful.

Then Harry did something that very nearly made Egeria cry. _'Do you want to speak?_' he asked, and stepped aside to let her take the control of his body.

And then, she had eyes, and hands, and face a human body around her, hers to control. For a moment she stared at Harry's hands - her hands - like she had never seen them before. They were… surprisingly big. Liviana's hands had been smaller. Then, while everyone in the room stared, Egeria touched her hair and face, marvelling at Harry's masculinity. She had never been in a male host before. It was definitely a new experience.

A blurry experience, she found, and blinked as she realised that the glasses which Harry had worn for years to correct his visions were now making that vision worse. Gingerly, she pulled the glasses from her face and blinked. _'Ah, much better,'_ she thought. In their combined minds, her host chuckled.

"Harry?" asked Hermione, who was sitting beside them on the edge of the gurney. "Harry, are you alright? Your eyes, Harry, they… they glowed."

"Harry is -" Egeria started and stopped, a little startled at the voice. It was so much deeper than she had expected - especially with the distortion that tended to come upon it when a Goa'uld spoke through human. "Harry has graciously allowed me the control for a moment," she said again, trying to get used to the sound - to the surprising vibration it carried. "I am Egeria."

Explosive sigh ran through the people in the room, and the Pangarians shook hands and clasped shoulders in silent, compassionate celebration. Harry's friends however, only frowned and looked worried.

"Harry allowed you?" Ginny asked, frowning a bit deeper. "I thought the Goa'uld had the dominance of the body, that the human mind could be…" she stopped speaking, as Hermione threw a glare at her direction.

"In normal humans, yes. But Harry is not normal," Egeria answered, and smiled, touching her chest - Harry's chest. Oh, but it was flat, in comparison to how Liviana had been. "His magic changes things - it prefers Harry, so Harry has the primary control. I couldn't force my will upon him even if I wished it…" she trailed away and chuckled. She could feel the magic even now, churning inside. "It's incredible; I have never felt such a power."

"Wait you mean that magic makes Harry stronger than you?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Not Harry, exactly. Magic… it feels like a different being all together, Harry but not quite Harry. I do not know how to explain it, but it is his, and it will keep me silent if Harry wishes it," Egeria said, and laughed softly. "It never occurred to me before, but this is such a relief!"

"Why?" Neville asked, more curious than worried it seemed.

"I didn't think of it before, but you people, you wizards, you have incredible powers. And if the Goa'uld would know, they would try to conquer Earth just to gain access to hosts like you. With magic, their power would be even more incredible, even harder to fight against," she explained and laughed again with relief. "But they cannot, because if they would try claim a wizard host against the person's will, the magic would enslave them! Perhaps even kill them!"

_'I didn't think of that,'_ Harry mused, _'But now that you mention it, yeah. That is a relief.'_

The wizards in the room shared a look, and seemed to relax a little. "But you didn't?" Hermione asked.

"No, because Harry accepted me. The potential was there," Egeria nodded, and then shifted to the side and lowering her feet to the floor. "It's okay, I just wish to see myself, to stand," she murmured to the people who shifted forward either to aid her or stop her as she carefully stood up. She found Harry's body surprisingly strong and nimble - and steady, despite her lack of practice.

As she took her first steps in a long, long while, Dollen stepped forward with Tegar at his side. "Queen Egeria," the politician said almost formally. "On behalf of the Pangarian people, I would like to offer my most sincere apologies for the events of the last decades. I know our actions were unforgivable -"

Egeria smiled, stepping forward and placing her hands onto his shoulders. "I have already forgiven you. And I contributed to the incident myself, I sabotaged my young which gave the drug it's weakness, so part of the blame rests on my shoulders," she said, and nodded at the man, who despite the mistakes done was not a bad governor, not if what Harry knew of the man was true. "I think its best that both you and I will look forward to what we can do instead back to what mistakes we made, and work together to resolve the problem."

The governor swallowed and nodded, deeply grateful look about his face. "Thank you," he said simply. "I would like that very much. We all would."

"Except for us," Ron interrupted from where he was sitting, on the edge of the gurney. "_We_ would like to go home," he said, motioning at his friends, Harry's friends. "We would also like to know whether or not Harry is coming with us."

Egeria looked at him seriously for a moment, before bowing her head and shifting away from the control. Harry pushed forward again, and lifted his head. "Yes," he said, his voice returning to normal, smile gracing his lips. "We will go home. But there are things we need to do here for a moment before that. So, can you give us a couple of days?"

Blinking with surprise, the redheaded wizard glanced at the others, who seemed relieved. "I think we can spare couple of days," Neville then said. "But what do you need to do?"

"Check the laboratories, fix a few mistakes, give a quick lesson or two, and check out the Chappa'ai," Harry answered, shrugging his shoulder. "It shouldn't take long and you can use the time to pack."

_'You really should've told me about the Chappa'ai,' _ Egeria thought at him, thinking about the great ring that Harry had walked pass and through many times while in Pangar, never knowing what it was. _'There is a chance you might be able to get through it to Earth without needing to spend months in hyperspace. Why didn't you?'_

_'I thought it was a monument - I didn't know it was interstellar transportation device. Give me a break,'_ Harry answered, but there was some humour in the thought.

x

With new strength and new will to do right, Egeria set to work with the medical experiment facility to make sure everything was going according to plans and no mistakes were being made. It was impossible not to, when Harry's beliefs of right and wrong were so much stronger than hers that it was overwhelming, especially since he saw everything as good until proven otherwise. Her will to correct mistakes and Harry's will to do everything possible to make things right… it was a powerful force.

Together, with Hermione and Neville, several Pangarian scientists and curious Dollen and Tegar trailing behind them, Egeria and Harry went from laboratory to laboratory, checking results and fixing broken machines as well as they could until everything was working as well as possible under the circumstances. They talked, sometimes Egeria and sometimes Harry, both perfectly willing to answer questions and both perfectly capable, with Harry's knowledge of what had been done so far and Egeria's what had to be done from here on blending into a single, well functioning machine.

Once they had checked that the project wasn't in danger of suffering any major system failures or laboratory accidents, they had the head scientist gather everyone else, so that they could give them a quick lecture about the medical science they were learning to use - which they would have to use to complete the counter drug. In the end, Tretonin played a meagre part in the lecture, which was mostly about chemical reactions and particle emissions and energy waves treatments and such which are key parts of Goa'uld medicine. The scientists were mostly baffled - good sum of the lecture was probably completely new information to them - but they seemed willing enough to take notes and discuss about it afterwards.

"It's not that we don't appreciate the knowledge you have to share - we welcome it, of course," Dollen, who was starting to look a little wide eyed, asked after the discussion had ended. "But I don't understand why you're telling us all this."

"A cure, even without any understanding about the science behind it, may work but what will you learn from it?" Egeria asked. "There is still a margin of error left, both in Tretonin and its cure. If we can't come back from Earth, then at least now your people will have some idea about how to counteract any possible setbacks. Or at least they will be looking for the way to do it from the right place."

When the night came and most of the workers headed home, Harry and Egeria spent some time writing notes and instructions, both wishing that they had more time so that they could explain the science behind it a bit clearer. _'This will have to do,'_ Egeria thought, after twenty pages and some illustrations.

_'You've already done a lot,'_ Harry thought back. _'The amount of information you know is staggering. The medical science alone, but the technology too, the history, the philosophy - the languages… it's beyond impressive.'_

_'Why thank you, Harry,'_ Egeria smiled. _'You're nothing to sneer at either.'_

_'I'm an infant compared to you,'_ her host snorted, and took the control so hat he could stretch after the time spent at a desk. _'There's one thing I want you to try, now that we have time. Unless you mind, of course,'_ he thought after a moment. _'After what my magic did, how it felt like… I want to know if -'_

_'If I can use it?'_ Egeria asked. _'I'm curious as well.'_

Harry stepped aside again, and Egeria stood up, reaching for the sleeve where Harry's wand was tugged, in a crudely made fabric holster that Ginny had made out of boredom whilst they had been in hyper space. Fingering the handle, Egeria tried to feel the magic in the same way Harry did every time he reached for the wand, trying to feel the warmth and the sparkles beneath the surface.

_'Nothing,'_ she thought, frowning slightly.

_'Try a spell,'_ Harry urged.

Nodding, she lifted the wand and incanted, with the confidence and experience Harry had gained after five years at Hogwarts, "_Lumos_!" only to have nothing happen. The wand remained cold, unlit and unresponsive in her fingers. None of the other charms did anything either, she couldn't levitate, couldn't transfigure, couldn't even summon or banish anything. Even Harry's most powerful spell, the Patronus charm, which she knew how to perform perfectly, which she backed up with her fondest, happiest memory of Janus… did absolutely nothing.

_'I think the magic is refusing to obey you,'_ Harry said after a while, taking the control back and easily lighting the tip of his wand with a softly whispered lumos. "It accepts you as part of… us, but you're not me," he said out loud, absently drawing calculations about the effectiveness of lumos in Goa'uld into the air with the lingering glow of the shining wand tip. _'Oh, wow. I know _math_!'_

_'I know mathematics, therefore, you know mathematics,'_ Egeria answered. _'I think you are right,'_ she added, thinking about magic. It would've been so much easier to say that it was a physical thing, that Egeria lacked some part, some aspect, maybe something like the Naquadah in her own blood, that would let her control Harry's magic. But she knew the truth. The magic had chosen Harry, not her, and even their blending didn't change that - didn't make her part of that.

"It's incredible," Harry murmured out loud, manipulating the lumos spell in ways he had never been able to before. "I can feel it so clearly, I can feel every vibration, every wave, every drop of energy… I can almost feel the magic's particles. It's like its ringing. Like I'm ringing with it."

"Harry?" voice asked from behind him, and Egeria perked a little as Harry turned around to see Hermione standing at the door. The girl was staring at the complex calculations Harry had drawn in glowing light right into air itself. "Oh," the girl said. "Egeria? Did you do that?"

"No, I did," Harry answered, eyebrows lifting as the others of their stranded party came inside a well. "Apparently I know math now."

"Well, I figured you probably would - you know medical science now, so math isn't that that big of a leap. I meant the…" she waved up and down along the calculations, while Luna moved curiously to poke one of the floating numbers. "I've been trying to figure out how write into air ever since our second year when you told me how Tom Riddle did it, but I never managed it. I can do illusions and such if I know the spell, but not writing," Hermione admitted it. "How do you do that?"

"I just… have it stay there," Harry said and waved one section of the calculations to vanish. "Magic normally dissipates quickly because that's the nature of it; it's too dynamic to hold shape in normal conditions. Light writing is rather like transfiguration, or conjuration, in the sense where you force something of one shape - or no shape - to take one. But essentially it's all about control and concentration - just willing the magic to stay where it is."

As he spoke, he started drawing a chart about how to do light writing. Egeria stayed back, enjoying the vision of Harry using the knowledge and understanding she had given him to discover something new. Hermione seemed to enjoy it too, but she seemed also fairly shocked, giving Harry wide eyed looks as he sketched a glowing calculation about the power required for the so called light writing.

"Woah, mate," Ron said from behind them, making Harry glance over his shoulder. "Did you get smarter?"

Harry blinked, and lowered his wand while Hermione drew hers to try. "No, not as such. But Egeria is pretty damn smart - and I can kind of… piggyback on that."

"So, alien snake in you head makes you smart?" the redhead asked, and then perked up. "Hey would I get smart too, if I had one? Smarter than Hermione? That would be so wicked, I could finally go all know it all on the know it all!"

"Hey," Hermione objected, throwing a look at him.

"Are all aliens this smart?" Neville asked thoughtfully, he too poking at the glowing writing curiously. "Or are there just one type of aliens, these Goa'ulds?"

"Merlin was an alien," Luna offered helpfully, making everyone stare at her. "He was," she said defensively. "He came from Atlantis."

Harry shook his head. "He might as well," he said, dismissing the matter. "And yes, everyone with a Tok'ra symbiote will be able to share their knowledge and wisdom. And also, yes, there are other aliens out there. There are lot of human races out there of course, then there are the Jaffa who serve the Goa'uld. Then there the Asgard who are actually more advanced than the Goa'uld…" he trailed away. "There have been lots of others, but… the Goa'uld have the tendency of driving them either out of existence, or into hiding."

"Nice of them," Ron snorted, finding himself a place to sit by the desk. He gave a meaningful look at Hermione, who sighed and lowered her wand.

Harry looked between his friends and sent a feeling at Egeria which could be summarised by a question mark. She nudged him to ask, and after a moment, he did. "So, what's up?" he asked, looking from Hermione to Ron to Ginny to Neville and Luna. "It feels like you're staging an intervention." Egeria snorted softly at that in the back of his head.

"A what?" Ron asked, confused.

"We actually might be, in a way," Hermione answered, folding her arms and tapping her wand absently against her shoulder. "You said that we could head back home in couple of days. Day after tomorrow, I presume," she started, to which Harry nodded slowly. "And you are coming with us?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Egeria agrees with me. Neither of us could bear not knowing what happens to the Wizarding world we need…" he searched for a word, which Egeria supplied. "…closure."

"Closure," Ginny more asked than anything, raising her eyebrows. "So, we're right," she said, turning to the others. "Take that, Ron."

"I just said he might not, I didn't actually place any bets on it," the elder redhead said, making Harry look between them confusedly.

"Bets?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "About what? Me wanting closure?"

"No. Of you not staying on Earth" Luna answered, while tugging the numbers of Harry's glowing calculations out of shape with her fingertips.

"Yeah," Neville nodded, glancing at the others. "We'd have to be blind not to notice how much you like it here - and that's before Egeria. Now you're like… native, or something."

"So, we figured out that you were probably coming back with us to Earth only temporarily," Hermione agreed. "To see if you can… well, get closure for the whole Boy-Who-Lived versus You-Know-Who thing. And after you got that, we figured you'd take the ship and then head right back to Pangar."

Harry looked from one magician to another before sitting down to a chair nearby. "Yeah, probably," he admitted. "We're kind of invested here, Egeria and me. And not just with the Tretonin thing and all, but Egeria's kids are here. And we want to see them grow up, we want to see them with their hosts, we want to see what will become of them."

Egeria pushed forward for a moment, with Harry easily letting her. "And I might want to one day have more, and we can't do that on Earth," she said, distorting Harry's voice to let them know it was her speaking. "Earth isn't aware of the galaxy and introducing the Tok'ra would possibly only end up in tragedy there. Pangar is more welcoming."

"Wait, you're thinking of having _more_ kids? Thirty is not good enough?" Ron asked, looking a little shocked. "How are you going to do that anyway, from inside Harry? Is that normal?"

Egeria opened her mouth to explain, but got derailed by Harry, who just grinned. "We'll figure something out," he said. _'I think my friends might be better off not knowing what you have in mind, at least not just yet,'_ the wizard thought almost admonishingly. _'Knowing how Goa'uld queen give birth whilst inside human hosts… that might traumatise them for life.'_

_'Perhaps that was the intention,'_ Egeria thought, and they shared a momentary joined amusement concerning the faces Ron usually made when he was shocked.

_'He sort of has a valid point. You can't exactly do with me what you would do with a female host,'_ Harry thought.

_'I'll work it out when the time comes,'_ Egeria thought back.

"So, anyway," Hermione said, looking faintly worried. "You're not going to stay in Earth one way or another - probably for the best, Merlin only knows what muggles would do to you if they found out about Egeria. Or wizards for that matter," she added under her breath, running her hand through her hair. "You're gonna come back here and heal the Pangarians and then you will, what, start a Tok'ra empire and so forth?"

"And you probably think you're doing this all by yourself," Ron added.

Harry frowned, all inner amusement fading. Egeria sent a concerned thought to him, and as Harry joined it, they shared a moment of quiet disbelief. They weren't seriously considering… "I would never ask you to come with me," he said and Egeria agreed, though she could see that the others didn't.

"Of course you wouldn't. You never do," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Makes no difference," she added, pointing a finger at him. "There is a whole galaxy out there, full of sciences I've never even dared to dream of, and you think you're going to leave me on Earth?"

"What she said," Luna nodded, having now managed to turn Harry's calculations into blur of pictographs which, if Egeria had to venture a guess about the purpose of the new pictographs, they probably had something to do with the Crumple-horned Snorkack.

"And I could never let you run off on your own, mate. What, with all the glory you'd be getting, the adventures you'd be having, while I'd be rotting away at the Burrow, helping mum wash the dishes? Yeah, right," Ron answered, rubbing his chin. "You think I could get a symbiote? It would be really wicked to be smarter than Hermione."

"Would you stop saying that?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.

Harry frowned at them, before glancing at the last two. "Neville, Ginny? What about you?"

Ginny grimaced. "Sorry, but I think I might rather stay on Earth," she said a bit apologetically. "This whole space stuff is pretty cool, but…" she trailed away, shaking her head. "I'd rather stay back home and play some Quidditch."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, and Egeria spared a sympathetic thought to the girl. No doubt her very existence reminded the girl of the year she had spent under Voldemort's control. Poor thing.

"I think it would be cool, but… I'm not sure," Neville said. "At the risk of sounding like a… well, I think I'd like to talk with my grandmother before making any decisions. But there's the whole thing about my parents…"

"We'll try and look into it when we get to Earth," Harry promised softly, and then turned to the others. "Ron, you know your mum will never agree to it - especially after you've been gone who knows how many months. And you, Hermione, what about your parents? Luna?"

"Mum will either understand or not, but I'm still not going to let you head off all by yourself," the redhead said, folding his arms and huffing. "No way."

"I hope that my parents will understand," Hermione said after moment of quiet. "They might not, but… We can always visit Earth, can't we?"

"With trip from one place to another taking four months? Oh joy," Ron muttered, grinning.

"Dad will probably give me my own camera," Luna said when Harry's eyes landed on her. When his eyebrows rose at that, she shrugged. "Maybe a notepad too. I can write articles for the Quibbler."

"Ah, of course," Harry murmured, and looked between his friends. "Why are you telling this to me now?" he asked. "This is too early. We haven't even gone back to Earth and I have no idea how long I will stay there, and when I can come back to Pangar. You might change your minds. I wouldn't hold it against you, but -"

"We won't," Hermione cut in.

"Nope," Ron agreed. "It might take time to run away from mum, maybe, but, nope not changing my mind."

"We told you so that you can say _we_ to the Pangarians, not just _I_," Luna said. "Also, so that we can be sure that there are still symbiotes left when we come back."

When Harry's eyes widened at that, Ron snorted. "I wasn't kidding about that," he said, and when Hermione glanced at him, Harry could tell she wasn't either.

Egeria felt an odd jolt somewhere in Harry's belly, that made both of them feel like the ground was tilting a little under their feet. "You… you really want to be hosts?" Egeria and Harry asked together. "Wow," Harry murmured, when his friends nodded. "That's just… wow."

"It's a plan then, right? We go to Earth, we kick You-Know-Who's arse or die trying, and we come back," Ron said. "Unless you don't want us here, of course."

"Of course I do," Harry answered quickly, a little too loudly. "Of course I do," he repeated a little softer, attempting a steady smile - and failing.

The answering smiles from his friends sealed the deal.

x

_'I think I figured out why we can feel your magic in way you yourself never could before me,'_ Egeria mused, as Harry woke up after their first night together. Usually Goa'uld hosts didn't really sleep - as the Goa'uld didn't need it. The Tok'ra only slept when seriously wounded. Harry, though, had differently functioning body due to magic - his brain worked just a little differently - and while Egeria could stay awake as long as she liked, Harry needed his rest to keep the handle on his powers. While he had slept, she had theorised - and came up with some conclusions.

"Why can we, then?" Harry yawned, stretching his arms.

_'Because of the Naquadah in my blood and physique. Naquadah is very powerful, and very receptive to all forms of energy - that is why the Chappa'ai are made of it, because of its conductive capabilities,' _Egeria started to explain_. 'That is also why Goa'uld and __Jaffa__ can sense the presence of symbiotes in others; they essentially sense the Naquadah in them because they themselves have it as well. It is like resonance."_

"So, you believe that the Naquadah is in a way resonating with my magic," Harry mused thoughtfully.

_'And possibly also amplifying it,'_ she agreed. _'If nothing else, the resonance is giving you the ability to sense the magic more precisely - it might also be the reason why you can also control it more precisely.'_

She could feel Harry thinking about in a rather distant sort of way, where she could get the general feel of his thoughts, but not the exact things he had in is mind. _'You might be right,'_ he finally thought to her. _'It would certainly explain it. You think it will happen with every wizard who might wish to become a host for a Tok'ra? Hermione, Ron, maybe Luna too, they would all get this… this resonance?'_

_'I don't see why not,'_ Egeria said eagerly. _'It might also be that a device could be made from Naquadah which would conduct your magic like a wand does.'_

_'Why would I need that?'_ Harry asked with confusion.

She sent him a feeling equivalent of lifting a single eyebrow. _'Harry, a wand is made of wood. Wood is not very durable,'_ after which she sent him image of the jewellery devices the Goa'uld used - creating effects almost like magic, but with technology. _'And if it was something like that, you could wear it always and always be ready.'_

_'Hm… the hand device seems a little clumsy,'_ Harry mused, mentally pointing at the jewel in the palm, which seemed to be more or less in the way. _'Seems a bit pompous to me too, wearing something like that all the time.'_

_'It's only an example. We would need to develop the device from mostly scratch, so we would have free hands with the design, more or less. It might not be that big, it might end up bigger - it might be that you can disguise it as a glove and no one would ever even notice it,'_ she answered. _'But it would be infinitely more secure than a wand.'_

She could almost see Harry thinking the times he had lost his wand - and how easily it could be taken from him. _'Well it will give us something to do while we're slowly,_ slowly _making our way to Earth,'_ he finally thought. _'Though, we don't have Naquadah, do we?'_

_'No, but we can still design it. And, if the Chappa'ai is still functional, our way back might not take so long,'_ Egeria added.

_'Speaking of that; it's time to get up and get to work,'_ Harry decided, rolling out of the bed.

Sometime later, after breakfast with their friends and answering few questions the Pangarians had compiled for them over the night, Egeria and Harry decided that it was time to see the Chappa'ai. Thankfully neither the Pangarians nor their friends had anything against it - they even wanted to come with them to see "what the fuss was about".

"He walks kinda girly now, doesn't he?" Egeria could hear Ron whispering behind her back to Neville as they made their way through the archaeological site and towards the Chappa'ai, which lay a little further ahead of them, surrounded by half-ruined pillar.

"Yes. Got bit of a swing going on, there," Neville observed thoughtfully.

"Boys," Hermione muttered at them, and Egeria could hear how she slapped one of them, probably Ron, to the shoulder. "Don't be mean."

"Yeah, yeah, but he does, doesn't he?" Ron asked. "Come on, look at him. Just try and tell me he's not swinging. If he was wearing robes, we would see all sort of… swishy movements."

"Her," Luna said.

"What?"

"It's Egeria right now. So, her. Not him."

"That's so _weird_."

Egeria smiled and felt Harry chuckling inside her mind. _'Robes would be nice, though,'_ Harry mused. _'These Pangarian clothes feel a bit… I don't know, foreign. They don't sit right.'_

_'Hm yes. Roman robes. I think you might like toga - it's not as much in the way as wizard robes seem to get.'_

_'That's because it's not a robe. It's a_ dress. _No, wait, I take that back - it's a_ sheet,' Harry answered with a snort. Egeria swatted him slightly mentally, but could feel that the concept interested him. Though Harry was more comfortable in Wizarding robes than he was in the stiff-necked Pangarian wear, he did agree - in his first year of Hogwarts he had fallen over often and spectacularly because the robes had gotten into his way, the hem getting under his feet as he climbed up the stairs and so forth.

They shook the thought of clothing aside, as they came to the Chappa'ai. Egeria could see why Harry had mistaken it for a monument - the gate was displayed in middle of ruins, and it had been standing there for long enough for people to have become blind. From Harry's memories Egeria knew that the gateway had only been discovered some tens of years ago and unburied along with the ruins - with little knowledge about what it was for. The rest of the ruins were still under work, it seemed, with people scurrying about, digging things and gently cleaning up what they found.

"Master Harry. Queen Egeria," Tegar, who was waiting them at the Chappa'ai with a young woman and two guards, greeted them. "There is something you wished to show me?"

"Yes," Egeria nodded, tugging at the collar of the jacket she was wearing and then motioning up at the Chappa'ai. "How much do you know about this?"

"We have… we have found indications that it is some form of Goa'uld technology," the young blonde woman said while stepping forward. "The writing in the pillars explains how travellers would come and go here, and how the ruins around us were a sort of reception colonnade." She smiled, when Egeria lifted her eyebrows at her. "Pardon me, I'm Zenna, I've working in these ruins most my life. Commander Tegar thought I might be of some help to you."

"It's nice to meet you," Egeria nodded, glancing around. "You are probably right - many Goa'uld occupied planets had similarly designed monuments around the Chappa'ai."

"Chappa'ai? This is what this is called?" Zenna asked eagerly, motioning at the gateway.

"It's a common Goa'uld name for it, though different races have different names for it. It essentially means Gate of Stars, or Star Gate," Egeria nodded, stepping forward and to the control device. "From what I have learned from Harry, you have yet to figure out how to operate it?"

"Yes - many permutations of the symbols have been used, but with little success," the young archaeologist said, stepping forward. "The device is functional, it responds to the control device, but as far as it true function goes, we have learned little. It is technology beyond our understanding, and the writings explaining its use have been most scarce."

"Yes. You could press these sigils endlessly, and never get the right sequence - there are billions of combinations, but only some thousands of Chappa'ai across the galaxy - as far as the Goa'uld have been able to determine, in any case," Egeria said.

"Can we presume you know some of these correct combinations?" Tegar asked, frowning.

"Yes," Egeria nodded. "However, I wouldn't dare to try majority of them. Not only has it been hundreds of years since I visited them or even heard of them and I have no way of knowing what is the state of those worlds currently, but most of them are in Goa'uld territories," she said. "There is one gate address I would like to try, however - with your permission."

"And that would be to a world you know is safe?"

"Maybe," she nodded, and then bowed her head as Harry pushed through. While taking comfortable seat at the back of his mind, Egeria watched through Harry's eyes how he turned his attention to their friends. "When Egeria was younger, back when Ancient Egypt wasn't so ancient and all… Earth had a Chappa'ai too," he said, making Hermione perk up a little. "It was buried in a rebellion against Ra, but it's been a while and the gateway might've been unburied. If that's the case, we can go home within… seconds, not months."

"Really?" Ginny asked with disbelief, as Harry moved to the control device and glanced over the symbols in search for the point of origin.

"The Chappa'ai work like the Floo-network - except on galactic scale," Harry answered and glanced up. "With your permission, commander…" he trailed away, and when the man nodded, he started punching in the symbols. As they lit under his hands the gate's inner disk turned, locking the symbols in place until the final, seventh one, at which point… it froze.

"It stopped. What does that mean?" Hermione asked, turning to him while Egeria sighed in the back of Harry's head.

_'It was a long shot anyway, but at least we tried,'_ Harry answered her dismay. "It means that the gate in the other end is either not working, or just not there," he said out loud, sighing. "I'm essentially getting a busy signal. The customer you are trying to call… etcetera."

"So, the Earth's… Chappa'ai is still buried?" Hermione asked, looking disappointed.

"Either that or it's broken. Or just not there anymore," Harry answered, sighing. "I guess we'll need to take the four months in hyperspace after all."

"And then we'll need another four months to get back from Earth," Hermione agreed with a sigh, though she was giving the gateway a thoughtful look. "But a Floo-network that stretches across the galaxy, that's… something else. Do you know how it works?"

"Yes, we do," Harry answered. "I can explain it to you later; it's all a bit technical."

Hermione nodded, and while Harry mourned the fact that the gate hadn't worked, Tegar examined the control device curiously. "So, this gateway leads to other planets?" he mused. "And it works both ways?"

"If I had managed to open it from this side, then the traffic would've been from this side - it doesn't work both ways, stepping into a gate opened from another world would mean instantaneous death," Harry warned. "So it's not like an open doorway, exactly. But the gate can be opened from everywhere where there is a control device - so, you can go from here to another planet, then activate the gate there and come back."

Tegar nodded slowly and Zenna made a sound of understanding. "And for every planet, the sequence of symbols is different? Does this mean that Pangar has its own sequence?"

"Yes, of course," Harry nodded, and still talking about the Chappa'ai and the travel between worlds, they walked away from the gate that hadn't given them easy access to Earth. Though the Pangarians had theorised, they hadn't had any proof, and as Egeria and Harry explained the situation to them, they also cemented their new beliefs in the vastness of the galaxy around them - and their own place in it.

"At this point it might be safest for you not to engage in the use of the Chappa'ai," Egeria warned, when Tegar asked if they could supply some symbol sequences for them. "I do know now about the state of the galaxy, and any world that I remember to be safe might not be. And if you walk into a wrong world and get noticed by the Goa'uld, it might be it for you - your world might end up… as a point of interest for them. And that is something you do not wish. Trust me; being quiet and unseen is your best defence right now."

Though Tegar didn't seem too happy to have them withholding the information, he conceded a point there. "After seeing how just one of your kind can manage to transform our world and its sciences so thoroughly in the span of two months, it's hard not to," he mused.

x

The rest of their last day at Pangar went mostly while arranging their departure. Unlike on the way to Pangar, which had been torturous and hungry with 6 young magicians barely managing to survive by expending what meagre supplies they had to the limits with magic, their way back would be much comfortable. The Pangarians happily supplied them with whatever they asked for - food being only the least of it, though the cooling system for the food and heating system for cooking was greatly appreciated. Clothing, hygiene products, _beds_ of all things… They even went as far as arranging books for them to read and arts and crafts supplies - on Luna's request - so that they would have something to pass time with.

While checking the systems of the fairly old shop, Egeria couldn't help but worry that it might get a bit crowded on the way back. The escape ship was larger than your average cargo ship, but not by much. The beds all had to be next to each other, and witches and wizards would all be sleeping in same space. That hadn't caused more than handful of scuffles on their way to Pangar, so it wasn't that big of an issue, but Egeria worried her presence might prove out to make things more difficult.

_'I don't think so,'_ Harry eased her worries. _'You at least can always give us something new to think about, with all the stuff you know. You can teach us and tell us stories every waking hour for years before you un out of material that's worth a lot when there's no where to go and nothing to do, trust me.'_

_'Perhaps,'_ Egeria sighed, watching how Hermione and Ginny set up decorative screens they had gotten from the Pangarians between the beds, separating them from each other. It would give them some semblance of privacy. _'Well, at least there are four rooms, so if they want it, they can have some privacy.'_

_'Yeah, cockpit, bathing area, cargo hold - or should I say _kitchen_? And our lovely, newly selected bedroom,'_ Harry sighed. _'So much space at our disposal.'_

Egeria smiled, while throwing an uneasy look at the far side of the room, where stood the single piece of _furniture_ the room had had before they had started packing. The sarcophagus. One of the first things Egeria had done after coming on board was detaching the control crystals of the healing device - though on Harry's request, she didn't destroy them. Though prolonged use of the sarcophagus did have some serious side effects, it would be better to have it than not, if someone got mortally wounded in the war against Voldemort.

"What are you thinking?" Luna asked from where she was sitting on the floor beside the door.

"Space," Egeria answered, turning to her. The blonde girl blinked slowly at her, and she elaborated. "And of how little there seems to be."

"There's more than you think," the witch answered solemnly. "It will be crowded on Earth."

Egeria thought about it and then nodded. "Yes, no doubt," she agreed, turning to the tray of crystals she had been checking, before pushing the tray back into the golden wall. "Do you miss it much?"

"Not as much as in the beginning, but more than I thought," the girl admitted. "I didn't know I liked Earth, but I do. I really do." She was quiet for a moment, before adding; "I like Pangar too, but…"

"But Earth has Crumple-horned Snorkacks," Egeria finished with a smile. "Want to see something cool?" she asked, the Earth term coming from her lips with surprising ease, to Harry's amusement.

"Sure," Luna said jumping to her feet, and with a smile Egeria led her to the cockpit. As the ship was on orbit in space, with travel between it and the planet happening via the ships, the view was spectacular. It was hard to rival the sight of a planet, glowing like enormous, magnificent gem in the darkness of space, surrounded by stars and moons… But by pulling out the star maps and the destination logs, Egeria just and just managed.

All in all, the ship was ready sooner than anyone of them thought - stocking it with food and various items of comfort was easy enough with the rings, and Hermione and the others were very familiar with the ship after all the time they had unwillingly spend on it, that they got everything arranged inside it with ease.

Egeria knew, however, that some of the items included hadn't been exactly offered by the Pangarians. Quietly, each member of their interstellar party had gone to various people in charge, asking for this and that. Luna had gotten her art supplies, after all, so Ginny felt deserved her writing supplies, and Neville his plants and Ron his various Pangarian board games. Hermione had asked nothing, but after all the books Pangarians had graciously offered, she had nothing left to ask. Neither did Harry, who was more or less satisfied with bed to sleep in and food to eat. Egeria, though, had a need for something special.

When she made tentative questions about Naquadah, the Pangarians hesitated for a while before supplying her with a half a kilo of it in semi-purified form. "We try to mine it, but as the records say, the Goa'uld have already mined most of it and we can only find some trace amounts of it in the ground," Dollen admitted. "It's usually only used in laboratories for study and experimentation. It's considered extremely valuable, but in the light of what you've given us…"

Egeria thanked him and the scientist who had gave up years' worth of research material, already looking forward to what she might be able to make of it. Half a kilo, majority of which was no doubt made of lighter elements, wasn't much, but if her plans for Harry's hand device could come to fruition, she would need it.

_'How are you going to work it without the right tools?'_ Harry wondered.

_'I'll figure something out,'_ she promised.

Once everything was done and set and the ship was ready to go, they decided together with Harry's friends not to wait until the next morning, but leave in the evening. "We can just as easily sleep on the ship," Hermione reasoned. "It's one night closer to home in any case."

It meant, however, that they didn't get much time to say goodbyes to their Pangarian hosts. Still, Dollen arranged them a small farewell party in the central building, with the scientists and soldiers from the medicine facility along with some archaeologist and such present. He toasted them generously, saying, "To our dear friends from a faraway world, who made the salvation of our people possible - and to Egeria, the queen mother of new Pangarian sciences." Which was in Harry's opinion a bit excessive, but which Egeria found very nice.

Most of the party was spent discussing future of Pangar, theorising what it would be like after the Tretonin would govern their lives no more. Some of it was positive, some of it was negative, but overall it was very promising, much thanks to the fact that Pangar was a peaceful world. Unlike some human races might've, they weren't immediately planning weapons or such, but instead wanted to concentrate onto their medical science and into improving it. There was some talk about new energy sources and shield technology too, but it was all still in the early stages.

Egeria and Harry slipped out of the party half way, and made their way through the city and to the medicine facility. Their last hours were spend by the tank where Egeria had once lived, saying good bye to Egeria's children, giving them instructions - and in few occasions, giving them also names. The infant Tok'ra were still too young to speak properly but they managed to squeak out scattered words enough to get their own farewells and well wishes though.

"If we cannot for whatever reason return, take care of the Pangarians, teach them and guide them," Egeria whispered to her young while stroking her fingers along the glass of the tank. "They have come to be dear to us."

"Take care of yourselves too," Harry added. "Look after each other."

_'I wish I didn't have to leave them like this,'_ she thought to him, as the larvae Tok'ra swarmed around the sport where the two of them rested their hand, chirping and squeaking their assurances at them. _'I wish…'_

_'I'm sorry,'_ Harry answered. _'I wish we could take them with us, but we don't have the capability of caring for them, not like the Pangarians do.'_

Egeria smiled, glad that he hadn't offered that they could stay in Pangar and let the others return to Earth by themselves. She wouldn't have taken the offer - it meant too much for him, and for her, to see Wizarding world free and in peace - but it would've given her a temptation that would've no doubt haunted her later on. "We will be back," she whispered out loud, and bended to kiss the tank's glass. "Goodbye my children."

xx

Oh noes, no character tag for Egeria. I posted piece of this in "Toil and trouble" and had really no intention of posting the rest because of how it will end up eventually, but it got such a positive feed back, that I decided to risk it. So here we go. I don't yet know how many parts this story will have, at least 3 but probably more. They might be shorter or longer than this but I'll try to make them into complete story arcs so that there aren't any cliffhangers and such. Also, because of how long they will probably be, don't expect to see an update immediately.

The slashy and mpreggy bits won't start until the 3rd part. The pairing will be between Harry, Egeria, SGA character and SG character, though there might be other pairings.

Edit: Whoops. I didn't meant to put Siler as the main character - I was looking for tag to use for Egeria and apparently I accidentally selected something while at it. Not that Siler isn't singularly awesome individual, he just doesn't feature much in this story...

My apologies for grammar errors and such, and feedback is always very appreciated.


	2. Second part

Warnings; Eventually slash and sort of Mpreg. Not yet in this part, though. Spoilers all around.

**Queen Mother**

**Second part**

For Egeria the weeks upon weeks of hyperspace was nothing taxing. It was nothing compared to decades in a tank - and interstellar travel had been like that for as long as she could remember in either case, so she was adjusted to it. Harry, who now had her experience and even some of her patience, shared the sentiment for the most part, and was more or less comfortable with his lot in life. The others… well, there were varying reactions.

Hermione was quite satisfied, Egeria observed. She could read days upon days and not get bored - and with all the reading material supplied by the Pangarians, there was plenty for her to read. And when ever she got bored with that, she would seek out Egeria who was always happy to teach her about this and that, whatever she was interested in at the time. They went over inertial dampening fields and hyperspace windows, they talked about subspace and the possibility of whether Apparation and Floo-travel might be connected, and all sorts of things that tended to send the rest the others out of the room in search for better entertainment.

The next most comfortable with the situation was Neville, who worked with a shelf full of Pangarian herbs growing in their "kitchen" area, which was also the cargo bay and housed the ring platform. He seemed satisfied with watering and clipping the plants and fighting with the lighting system to get the optimal light for the plants - and when ever he got tired of that, he too could be found with a book - though his tended to be about Pangarian horticulture. He wasn't beyond ditching them both to challenge Ron or Ginny in this or that board game, though.

Ron too was surprisingly calm. Egeria was almost shocked to find the levels of patience the some what temperamental youth had when it came to strategic games - he could spend hours with a board, studying or coming up with strategies. He could spend hours playing too - often against himself because it turned out that no one was match for him, not even Egeria, who had never had the head for battle strategies.

Ginny, though, wasn't so comfortable. She was an outgoing girl and the lack of space started get to her on the second day. She ran back and forth from one end of the ship to the other, trying to keep up with her strength, she said, but Egeria thought she was just trying to make it seem like she had lot of space to move. She spend lot of time writing, though - writing fiction, much to the surprise of both Egeria and Harry who had had no idea she had such a hobby. It seemed to grant her an escape from the crowded ship for a while, so no one bothered her.

Oddly enough, Luna seemed to be the most claustrophobic among them. She painted and drew, she read, she followed Egeria around and asked endless questions, she wrote, she played games with Ron and tended to plants with Neville, and none of it seemed to be quite enough for her. She seemed painfully aware of the windows, though she never looked at them or the purple blur of the hyperspace beyond them. "It doesn't feel right in here," she would say, and go to bed at odd hours.

No one could blame her for it, though. It didn't feel quite right to Harry either - there was something about hyperspace that just rubbed magic the wrong way, making it's bearer a bit uneasy. That was probably why Harry let Egeria have control more often than he had it himself - it a bit was easier on him.

_'It isn't painful, if that's what you're worried about. It just feels like… it feels like I'm walking backwards, but somehow with each step I end up a mile forward,'_ he explained. _'It doesn't feel so bad when you're in control, though.'_

Egeria didn't mind, though. She was busy working, busy designing the hand-device for Harry - busy using what meagre equipment they had to refine the small amount of Naquadah she possessed. She had already determined what she was going for, approximately anyway. Naquadah worked rather like core of a wand, judging by what she had learned of wands - it resonated and drew in magic. However, Naquadah alone wasn't enough - the core wasn't enough. A wand was made of wood because the wood directed the magic once it had been drawn in by the core - and Naquadah couldn't do that, all it could do was draw the magic in. She needed something like that - a directing element.

She tried everything in the ship - or had either Harry, or if he wasn't in the mood, Hermione try. The other metals didn't work - Naquadah was apparently the only metal perfectly suited for magic, everything else just slowed it down or was corroded when touched by it. After that, Egeria moved onto crystals - of which the ship had only limited amount, but which she knew could be used for this type of thing. Sadly, what few crystal she could test didn't do the trick - one came close, a back-up control crystal from the sarcophagus, but it splintered the magic so that Hermione's lumos spell lit the cockpit like a disco-ball.

_'A ball covered with minuscule mirrors. Humans invent such interesting things,'_ she mused to Harry, who chuckled in the back of her mind.

"Well, now we know that a crystal might do the trick," Hermione offered while examining the control crystal - a small clear rod, which normally regulated the power flow of the sarcophagus. "But how do we get it right? By cutting it?"

"No. We need to grow it," Egeria answered, taking the crystal. "Only by growing it ourselves can we be sure it comes out exactly as intended. Sadly, I have no way of making a seed here."

"Wait, these crystals are grown?" Hermione asked with fascination, glancing over the table which was covered with various crystals Egeria had harvested from the ship.

"Hm-hmm," the queen nodded. "There is no way to find the right type and right sized crystals for Goa'uld technology in nature, no. They're all grown in laboratories and factories, including these," she said, holding the crystal which had done the trick. "They all need seeds, though, which can only be made with right materials in laboratory suited for them. Even in Pangar, with all those resources and help available to me, it would've taken me years to create the laboratory like that, not to mention about getting or making the right materials."

"Hm, I see," Hermione murmured. "Any way it could be done magically?"

"I don't know, but I guess we will have to find out," Egeria smiled, and they got back to work.

In each "day", if they could be called that, their group had three constants - three meals - which they all not only ate together, but also prepared together. Harry, Egeria, Ginny and Luna did the cooking, as they knew how, while the three others helped around with simplest tasks like chopping this or peeling that. Thankfully the Pangarians had been more than generous and there was enough to go around - enough for them to feast like kings every day if few charms were included, even. Once the cooking was done, they would eat together by the only table in the ship - another gift from the Pangarians - and spend sometimes hours just talking while they nibbled on their food.

Egeria noticed soon that the group stretched these times as much as they could, all wanting to spend their time doing something seemingly worthwhile instead of just sitting around, doing more or less nothing. The cargo-bay-kitchen area was becoming a place where all of them spent most of their time in any case. When not covered in food, the table was the best place for Egeria and Hermione to work, for Luna to paint, for Ron and whoever was his opponent this time to play, and so forth. It was pretty nice arrangement, as they could talk freely while doing whatever they wanted to.

And so time went by, light year after light year. Luna painted all of them in turn, Ron beat them all in various games, Hermione taught them things about this and that aspect of Pangarian sciences, Neville invented a spell to enhance plant growth by increasing it's intake of light, Ginny started doing physical exercises and Harry slowly overcame his bout of hyperspace aversion. Egeria on other hand discovered how to grow crystals with magic - or how to make a suitable seed from a shard of another crystal by a laser cutter she had devised from various parts of Pangarian and Goa'uld technology, and how then a wizard could make it grow.

"Now we just need to figure out how to make a seed that will grow just _right_," Harry mused, as he, Hermione and Egeria examined the crystal that had bloomed from the seed Egeria had made. It looked rather like a flower, having grown to approximately seventeen different directions instead of just one like intended.

"I suppose. It sure is pretty, though," Hermione mused, grinning.

By the time they were in the middle of their journey, the kitchen area was starting to become full of those crystal flowers. The best they had managed was a crystal that had grown only to four different directions - whilst the worse one was a fifty seven branched behemoth which eventually found a place sitting in the middle of the kitchen table.

"We're going to be swimming in these things if you three keep it up," Ron noticed while tinkering with one of the many crystals. "How much do you need anyway?"

"I just need one that will direct the magic into single point, but making that one is proving out to be difficult," Egeria answered.

"No, I mean off the crystal," the redhead said, and pointed his finger to the tip of one of the crystal's many branches. "Because to me it seems like you just need the tip of this thing - and doesn't that direct it to one direction?"

"Yes, but -" Egeria started and then stopped to think about it. "There's something usable in that," she mused. "I need to do some tests, but perhaps…"

"Well, have fun," Ron said, letting the crystal he was holding swing between his fingertips. "Not to belittle your little science project, but I've been thinking about something else. What will we do once we get back to Earth? Just ring down like with Pangar, or… what? And we've been gone now, what, over half a year? Ten months at least by the time we make it there," he snorted. "They all probably think we're dead."

"There's nothing we can do about that now," Hermione said, though she frowned worriedly. "Though you are probably right - there were witnesses to our rather spectacular vanishing act - and seeing that it was the Department of Mysteries, there were probably monitoring charms up as well, magical versions of security cameras and such. Even if they if they knew the ring transporter was just that, a transporter, we've been gone so long that they might've declared us legally dead."

"Wizards don't do that, actually," Ginny said while approaching the table where most of them sat. "Declare people dead, that is. Bill told me about it once - how at Gringotts the vaults of people who have probably been dead for centuries are still active because people have no proof of them being dead. And without proof, you're not actually dead, just not around that much."

"Well, that's nice," Hermione snorted with slight disbelief. "What about if the person who's gone missing has a will, or kids? What happens to them - will they never get the things their parents left them?"

"Not unless the will is specifically written for that," Ginny shrugged. "There are different wills for different situations."

"Yeah, but still. I've been thinking about it whole thing, and I doubt I'm the only one who worried. I mean, for all we know Earth could be in war - or our side of it anyway," Ron said. "If we show up just one day, out of the blue, they might think we're, I don't know, spies under Polyjuice? Or something."

"Or if Voldemort has won, they might think we're what we are, and kill us for being that," Luna mused serenely from the floor, where she was drawing.

"Yeah, or that," Ron agreed, shifting over a little so that Ginny could sit down beside him. "So I'm thinking we probably don't want to just walk up the Diagon Alley like nothing's happened. We need to… see what's going on first."

"I agree. Caution should be exercised," Egeria murmured, and stepped aside so that Harry could take control. "Well, if we want feel things out, we can't ring down to Earth - if the rings even exist anymore, they might've just as well destroyed. We need to land the ship somewhere," he said. "The ship has a sort of cloak of invisibility of its own, though - that's how it could hover around earth for hundreds of years without being detected - so we can do that without any trouble. After that, though."

"Pity we don't have _your_ invisibility cloak, that could've been big help," Ron murmured.

"Hm. There is a spell for that - Moody cast it to me when they came to fetch me from the Dursleys," Harry remembered, and Egeria perked up at the memory. Magic could do so many wonderful things, it really never ceased to amaze her. "Hermione, you happen to know the spell for disillusionment charm?" Harry asked.

"I think I might, but I haven't succeeded in actually casting it. All though, I haven't really tried that hard either," she admitted. "You probably could, though, thanks to Egeria. I can write it down for you in any case."

"Okay, that's something," Harry nodded, and glanced at the others. "Any other ideas?"

"Thestrals," Luna suggested. "For moving around fast. With them and disillusionment…"

"That could work, but doesn't that mean we need to go to Hogwarts? That's where the Thestrals are," Neville said, frowning as he too came to join them at the table. "And it might just as well be under Voldemort's control. Or the Ministry's. Remember Umbridge."

A dark look was shared around the table, before Hermione cleared her throat. "It might be that we couldn't land the ship to Hogwarts even if we tried. The wards neutralise muggle machinery - they might do the same to Goa'uld technology, and I doubt we want to risk the ship just yet," she said, and turned to Luna. "Can I have a paper, and one of your pens?"

The blonde girl blinked, and then handed them over before joining them as well. "There is a valley near Hogwarts, just between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade wards - people use it to apparate," she said suddenly. "The ship could land there."

"It could, but whether it should is another thing - it has a busy traffic, being the apparition point," Hermione shook her head, while quickly sketching the Hogwarts and Hogsmeade grounds to the paper. "I think we could safely land the ship here," she said, motioning the mountain area, which surrounded the Forbidden forest. "No one lives there and the wards end here, so it should be safe. The problem is that it's about four miles from here to where we need to get, and the area isn't exactly easy to cross."

"Would be so much easier if we had brooms," Ron sighed.

"Or if we could Apparate, but then we wouldn't need to get the horses anyway," Ginny murmured and shook her head. "Therstals might be useful later on, but getting them in the beginning might end up being unnecessary. I think we should first visit either Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley - either under disguises or invisible - to see who's in charge at the moment, what's going on."

"Hogsmeade would be infinitely easier to get to," Hermione noted. "But we have the ward problem again."

Harry and Egeria examined the sketch, and then what memories Harry had of the area. Going to Diagon Alley was out of question, at least in the beginning - and all other wizard sites could be equally dangerous visit. Though could've visited muggle sites, but unless the war had spilled over the boarder, that wouldn't do them much good. "Hogsmeade is our safest bet," Harry said. "I guess we will just have to brace ourselves and make the trek down from the mountains."

"We do have another problem, though," Hermione admitted quietly, and grimaced. "I just remembered. Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are both unplottables. We… might not be able to find them at all on a ship."

"Aww, great," Ron sighed, leaning back and folding his arms. "If Hogsmeade is out, does that mean we have to go for Diagon Alley after all?"

"How would we get there? We can't exactly park the ship in muggle London," Ginny said. "Even if it can become invisible, someone might run into it or something."

"Are there other wizarding locations we could use?" Harry asked, looking at the others. "Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are pretty much all I know, but there got to be more."

"Not really," Neville said, shaking his head. "There are pubs and some stores scattered around the country, but as far as streets go, Diagon Alley and Knockturn alley are the only ones, along with Hogsmeade."

"A pub. That's that could be it - just seeing the newest Daily Prophet would help us a lot," Harry said, leaning forward. "You happen to know any of these pubs, where we might find one?"

Neville slowly nodded. "My uncle visits one often, it's pretty close to where I live," he said. "There should be a place to land and hide the ship to - there's lot of empty fields and stuff around."

"That sounds perfect," Harry nodded, and as Hermione turned the paper over to write notes, they continued planning their return to Earth.

x

It took several tries, and several crystals, but Egeria managed to finally find the right way of combining Naquadah, and the crystal in a way that it would work as she wanted it to. The end result was crude thanks to somewhat crude tools, but it worked. With a tip of a crystal rod imbedded in the metal, it worked very much like a wand - the Naquadah drew in the magic, and the crystal offered it a way out. The result was shaped pretty much like a rough coin with diamond tip of a crystal in middle, but it was definitely a leap forward.

Of course, there were more issues with it than she would've liked. For one, the crystal was very fragile and she feared that stronger spells would crack it, and for two, the aim was off, very, very off - not to mention that the crystal still fragmented the spell cast a little, causing the Disco Ball effect, though in only small scale. So, the whole device was far from being ready to be implemented, and even further from being perfect. But it was something.

_'If you intend to make it like the hand device, where would the crystal go, to the palm?'_ Harry asked as Egeria tried to turn the crystal a little so that it wouldn't send the spell so far off course. _'That could work, but I'm not sure about aiming. I'm more used to moving a wand with my fingers mostly, so aiming with my palm would be clumsy.'_

_'So, should I put the crystal to your fingertip?'_ she asked thoughtfully and then smiled. _'When I have perfected the design and figured out the best way to make the crystals, I might even be able to put the crystal in as a fingernail. That would certainly look very pretty.'_

_'Highly manly too, I bet,'_ Harry grumbled, but with good humour. _'But yeah, I think it would work better in the fingertip. I can just point my finger, all dramatic and accusative and cast a spell. Heh. I can't see how you could put it in without the risk of me crushing the thing with one wrong move, though.'_

_'Once I have better tools and some free time on my hands, I should be able to work something out,'_ Egeria promised and leaned back to examine the new position of the crystal. It looked about right. _'Okay, give it a go.'_

Harry took control and for a moment turned the disk of metal in his hand, trying to get a feel to it. While Egeria marvelled at the feel of the connection between Harry's magic and the disk of Naquadah, Harry held the disk tightly in his hand, and aimed it. "Lumos," he chanted softly, and flash of light came out of the crystal, fragmenting slightly into separate beams which were almost all going to same direction.

"Better," the wizard said out loud while Egeria smothered a burst of triumph. Harry aimed the disk at a target dummy they had made from some fabric and an extra pillow, and tried another spell. "Infusco," he chanted this time, and patches of the dummy turned dark where the spell hit it. Most of the colour went into the wall, though, but as Harry aimed again, he hit the thing almost directly to the chest.

_'Perfect!'_ Egeria said. _'I think we're definitely getting there.'_

"Yeah," Harry agreed and turned the disk to look at the crystal. "It feels a bit off, though," he said, and touched the crystal with a fingertip, before quickly jerking his hand back before it burned his finger. "I think the crystal's not good enough. The Naquadah is drawing in more magic than the crystal can handle - and if it gets like this after two simple spells, I would have an overload in my hands, literally, after a simple battle spell."

_'I need to develop a crystal which will be able to handle this type of energy better, I agree,'_ Egeria though back. _'For now, the ratio of Naquadah and crystal must be evened. This isn't even nearly pure Naquadah, and it is already draining too much power. I need to do more calculations, figure out a workable ratio between Naquadah and lighter elements…'_

Harry graciously stepped aside so that the queen could do just that. _'You think we might have a working model by the time we come to earth?'_

"Of the disk design, maybe - but not the actual hand device, that will take longer," she answered out loud. _'You want disks like these for the others?'_ she guessed.

_'If situation back in Earth is bad, it wouldn't hurt to have a back up plan in case they lose or break their wands and have no way of getting new ones,'_ Harry agreed, considering the disk. _'With little work, the disk could be disguised as jewellery, as medallions…'_

_'Now you're thinking like a Tok'ra,'_ Egeria noted with satisfaction, and then glanced up as the cockpit doors opened, and Luna wandered in. "Hey there," the queen greeted the blonde girl. "Bored with the board games already?"

"Ron keeps beating my ambassadors in Shishmau," Luna sighed mournfully. "And Hermione is no fun - she's reading again," She added, before noticing the disk in Egeria's hand. "How's it coming?" she asked, stepping curiously closer.

"We're making some progress," Egeria nodded, placing the disk down. She smiled to the blonde haired witch. "Harry is thinking that once I have the design balanced, we might be able to disguise disks like these as medallions. Maybe you could help me come up with a design to make it seem like it's just a medallion?"

"It could be interesting," the girl agreed, crouching beside the control panel where Egeria worked. She reached one finger out and poked the disk. "It could be pretty."

"Yes it could be," the queen agreed, and then frowned slightly at the girl. Luna's hair was a bit of a mess - she probably hadn't brushed it that day. "Tell you what; I'm due for a thinking break. How about you get me a hair brush and some ties?" she asked, making Harry send the equivalent of mental question mark.

"Why?" Luna seemed to share his sentiment.

"So that I can fix your hair, of course," the queen said, reaching her hand and testing the texture of the girl's hair. "I think a Roman style would suit you very well. It would bring out your face a little more - not to mention about your eyes," she added, and sighed jealously. Luna had really such a beautiful hair - pale and silky and still very thick. Nothing like Harry's unruly mop.

_'Oy,'_ her host objected idly.

The blonde witch stared at the Tok'ra queen for a moment with wide open eyes, before standing up abruptly. "I'll be _right back_," she said and dashed out of the cockpit, leaving both Egeria and Harry staring confusedly after her.

_'Did I insult her?'_ Egeria asked worriedly, looking back to Harry's memories and trying to figure out what she might've said wrong. With Luna, it was sometimes hard to tell what she was thinking.

_'I think that -'_ Harry was cut off, as Luna returned with no less than two hair brushes, one hair comb, four elastic hair ties, and six ribbons, most of which she had probably taken from the bedside tables of the others. _'… that you didn't,'_ he finished slowly, confusedly. Then, like spark of electricity, realisation ran through his mind, making Egeria raise her eyebrows. _'You know, I doubt think anyone has done Luna's hair since her mum died.'_

_'… oh,'_ Egeria answered, and then smiled sadly. "Well, come on then, dear," she said to Luna, holding out her hands. "Let's get to it."

Luna came eagerly, sitting in front of Egeria in cross-legged position and tensing slightly as the queen started to gently untangle the knots in her long, pale blond hair. After a moment, as Egeria begun to absently hum one of the songs the women had sung back in Rome when she had done this to one of her chamber maids, the girl started to relax. Soon, as Egeria continued to run the brush through her hair in slow, hypnotic motions, she began to sway slightly.

Harry remained quiet, as Egeria sectioned the girl's hair and begun the careful curling often used in the hairstyles of the women of Ancient Rome, fixing it all in place with the ribbons. From the forehead, above the ears and towards the neck, and then up again to bundle the hair high on the back of her hair. Egeria made even the extra effort of arranging the ends of her hair into the artistic cascade just at her neck, which added delicacy to the hairstyle which otherwise was quite firmly in place.

The process took better part of an half an hour, but Egeria certainly didn't mind - it was one of the things she had adored about Roman Empire and its fashion. Ra would've called it primal grooming or something else, but Egeria only found it to be very soothing.

"And done," she said, arranging one of the curls at the side of Luna's mostly bared neck into more artistic shape. "How about you go and see what it looks like?"

Luna hesitated, giving her a wide eyed look again, before standing up and heading off - at more sedate pace than the first time around. Egeria smiled after her, proud of her work and _proud of her work_. She had never felt particularly close to Luna because of the girl's somewhat… strange demeanour, which had bothered her slightly because the girl and Harry seemed to, at times, have almost sibling like attitude towards each other. But now the queen felt like she had finally managed to take a step to the right direction.

_'Very nice,'_ Harry commented.

_'Nice enough to see if we could find a hair-raising potion on Earth?'_ Egeria asked playfully.

_'Don't push your luck,'_ he answered, but with warmth in his thoughts.

x

After that, Egeria _played,_ as Harry called, with Luna's hair every day. And then , little after that, she begun playing with Hermione's and Ginny's hair, teaching them both that just because Ginny's hair was impossibly thick, and Hermione's rather bushy, it didn't mean that they couldn't worked with. While Ron and Neville looked from the side with some mixed feelings showing in their face, the girls of the ship developed a tendency of _grooming_, another of Harry's words for it, every morning. This mostly included Egeria doing the grooming, which from the outside looked like Harry was doing it.

Though Luna somehow ended up getting her hairdressing lopsided within hour and completely undone within three, and Ginny decided that though it was fun once in a while it didn't fit her, Hermione grew an immediate fondness towards it. "When I tie my hair back it looks silly, and when I try to tie it up it gets all floppy - and braided it usually sticks out awkwardly," she admitted, examining the ribbons Egeria had wrapped around her head, which contained the unruly mass of the rest of her hair in a bun at the back of her head. "This is nice. And now it's not in the way."

"Definitely getting girly," Ron decided, only to have Harry regain control of his body and slap him upside the head.

In the mean while, Egeria still continued with her project. She mixed the Naquadah with lighter elements, trying to create a mixture that would be on the level with the crystal's ability to handle energy so that there wouldn't be overloads, Luna created a carving design which they would use on the disks to make them seem more like medallions than the weapons they actually were. Egeria tried to not read too deeply into it, but the fact that Luna had decided on a vaguely Roman design made her work a little harder so that she could see the end result as soon as possible.

It was getting a bit more pressing, too. They were now three week's from earth, and there was only so much time left to finish the work.

"Have you two gotten the chance to work with the Disillusionment charm?" Neville asked one so called morning, when everyone else were still in bed and Harry had been woken up as Egeria had gotten epiphany about the crystal. "One of us will have to go out all normal like, of course, go inside the pub and get the paper and all, but I bet whoever goes will want someone to watch their backs."

"Especially if it's you," Harry grinned while writing Egeria's idea down. "I think we can manage it okay - new magic is so much easier to handle with the Tok'ra resonance," of which the spells Hermione had shown him were a clear proof. It hadn't taken him and Egeria longer than few minutes to work out the transfiguration spells they now used to grow and shape the crystals.

"I bet," Neville grinned, and after watering the herbs, he put the can down and moved to join Harry and Egeria at the table. "I've been wondering about something though. If things are at least sort of okay, and we can go back to the people we know… will we tell them? About Egeria?"

Harry hesitated before slowly shaking his head. "I don't think it would be safe. With my luck, they'd figure the best thing for me would be to try and take Egeria out, so I will avoid that at any cost. Besides, the resonance gives me advantage in magic that I've never had before - not to mention about the boost of intelligence, experience and all that. If the war is still going, I need that advantage - and if it's a secret, if no one knows…"

"Aah," Neville nodded. "Good thinking."

Egeria sent a puzzled thought to Harry, who seemed to share it. "What are you thinking?" he asked, lowering the pen for a moment.

"I don't know. At times I just fear that it will all go horribly wrong," Neville said. "At others, all I can think about is my parents. I don't… I don't care about the war probably as much as I should - to me this trip is more about you checking out my parents and seeing if a Tok'ra symbiote could cure them. Does that make me a bad person?"

"It makes you a good son," Egeria answered in Harry's stead, though he nodded after she withdrew again. "I probably would be like you, if it was my mum and dad," he said and gave the brown haired wizard a considering look. "You're worried that something happens and I won't get to check or give my verdict about them?"

"Or that the verdict will be that nothing can be done," Neville admitted with a sigh. "With all these preparations, I can't help but be worried. Last night, if it can be called night anyway, Ron and Ginny were talking about weapons and if there might be any Goa'uld ones on board which we could use - you know, just in case. And with Hermione making plans and tactics about security, it just… it gets a bit overwhelming."

"I bet," Harry mused, while sending inquiring thought to his symbiote. _'Goa'uld weapons? Are there any on board?'_

_'Probably. Escape ships are meant for emergencies, so they tend to have a weapons locker of one sort of another,'_ Egeria admitted, thinking about possible locations where such a cache could be hidden. Maybe in cargo bay, but more likely in the cockpit… _'We could check it out if you'd like. If there are any Zat'nik'tels on board, that might be useful…'_

"It was easier on Pangar. It didn't feel like it, but when I look back to it, it really was," Neville mused, staring at the shelf full of herbs and plants - despite three months in hyperspace, they were flourishing. "There were just us and the Pangarians there - and Egeria too, of course - but none of them really had any say over us. On Earth, though, depending how things are…" he shook his head. "I think what I worry about the most, is that we will return for nothing. That, even if the war is still going and all, we will be told that we can't do anything - that they will stick us to Hogwarts and tell us to mind our lessons, and that would be it."

Harry snorted to that. "Well, I'm certainly not going back to Hogwarts," he said. "Not that there's anything wrong with the place, but I'm kind off beyond the point where I care about Wizarding education."

Neville flashed a small grin before frowning. "For the rest of us, the decision might not be ours," he said.

"Yes, well…" Harry murmured before shaking his head. "How about we not worry about it now, and leave it until we actually make it to earth?" he asked, and stood up. "Come on. Let's go check if we can find some Goa'uld weapons," he said, and shaking his head Neville followed.

After they had tiptoed their way through their sleeping area, Harry closed the door behind them and they started examining the cockpit. Harry and Egeria checked all the usual places where hidden weapons lockers were usually placed, until they found it just beside the door, hidden under part of the golden wall. "Ka-ching," Harry murmured with a grin as he saw two rows of Zat'nik'tels inside. Then his grin faded a little, as he saw two other things as well.

"What are those?" Neville asked, as Harry pulled out a golden hand device, and a healing device out from the hidden locker.

"It's… a Goa'uld healing device," Harry answered, drawing the answer from Egeria's memories. _'Strange for there to be one of these on board, isn't it?'_ he asked silently while examining it. _'What with the sarcophagus and all.'_

_'I think it might be for __Jaffa__ and human slaves - Ra rarely if ever allowed them the use of the sarcophagus. He liked the looks of awe he got when ever he did his _miracles_ by hand,' _Egeria answered. _'Most likely this is a backup in case the sarcophagus has a malfunction, though.'_

"This might become useful," Harry murmured while examining the healing device. After a moment he slipped it into his right palm, and concentrated. Nothing happened. He tried again, concentrating his will like when he used magic, but the healing device did nothing to respond. _'Maybe it's broken.'_

_'Or maybe…'_ Egeria thought, and then nudged at Harry's mind, making him step aside for a moment. Egeria shifted the healing device a little and then concentrated. Immediately the round centre lit up, making Neville jump back.

"Don't be worried - it's not a weapon," Egeria assured him, flexing her fingers around the device. _'Harry, I do believe we have discovered the flipside of your magical protection.'_

_'You can't use magic, and I can't use Goa'uld technology,'_ Harry mused. _'Seems like fair split. Do you think the hand device is the same?'_

_'Most likely,'_ Egeria agreed, taking the healing device off and pulling the golden device to her left hand, carefully fitting her fingers into the golden tips. Concentrating, she could immediately turn the red crystal in the centre active. _'Seems like it works,'_ she mused. _'Can you feel it?'_

_'Nope, not really,'_ Harry answered. _'I think my magic doesn't much care for it though - it almost feels like it's standing between me and that thing.'_

_'Hm. All Goa'uld technology has small negative side effects - these devices aren't exception. It wouldn't be that big of a surprise if your magic rejected it because of it,'_ Egeria thought and turned the device off. She glanced up to Neville, who had been staring at her worried. "These are devices only the Goa'uld - or Tok'ra, as it happens - can use," she said. "They are keyed to a certain element in our system - it also seems that Harry can't use them."

"I see," Neville murmured, though he obviously didn't. "What about those?" he asked, nodding at the Zat'nik'tels.

"These are hand held weapons. Zat'nik'tel is what they're called," Egeria said, and after wiggling the golden hand device off, she took one of the weapons. "You should be able to use these without any trouble." She unlocked the device, and then aimed it at the target dummy she and Harry used with the disks. "One shot," she said, squeezing the handle and sending a blast of sparkling white energy at the target, "will usually stun the target. The second shot will kill them."

"Kill?" Neville asked, blinking sharply and glancing between the snake-like weapon and the target.

"Yes. It is a weapon, after all - and the Goa'uld aren't the most merciful of people," Egeria mused. "The first shot is relatively safe, however - the stunning effect only lasts for so long and usually dissipates without side effects. Rather like _Stupefy_ in fact. It might be good idea that all of us will take one of these to carry once we reach Earth - they aren't as useful as wands, but they will serve their purpose in a fight."

"That thing is faster than spells, though - and you don't even have to chant anything," Neville noted, and then took one of the Zat'nik'tels, weighing it in his hand curiously. "How do you use it?"

Egeria showed him, and though Neville hit the wall couple of times, he soon managed to hit the target. As the target dummy still hummed with electricity, Neville stared at the weapon with a thoughtful look. "I've never been that good with attack spells - they tend to come out weak or not all," he admitted, while folding the weapon like Egeria instructed. "I think I'll hang onto this, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead - just don't shoot the ship," Egeria said. "The blasts can cause shorts in the systems, and we don't want to suffer a failure when there's still way to go before we make it to earth."

x

About a week before their estimated time of arrival at Earth, Egeria and Harry managed to finish the design of the disks - or medallions, as they would be. Right mixture of alloys had been found, and no matter how many spells Harry tried with the medallion, the crystal in the middle didn't heat. The spells were a little weaker than in the beginning and the disk took a little longer to _charge_ as the impure Naquadah couldn't gather magic as fast as pure, but it still worked. And as hidden last resort weapons went, the medallion worked admirably.

It took most of the last week for Egeria to make six of the medallions, after which Luna added designs into them in lesser metal which wouldn't interfere with the medallion's functions. As they had no chains, they used fabric straps for the medallions, before handing them out to everyone.

"It will work like a weak wand," Egeria told the others, as they examined their new jewellery. "All the spells we've tested works with it, but you will have to hold it firmly in your palm. Avoid touching the crystal tip in the middle, as then you'll risk casting the spell on yourself. Any questions?"

"What are the chances of people figuring out their purpose?" Hermione asked. "I mean, if someone tests or scans them…?"

"Well, by touch alone you can't tell - though the disk works like magical conductor, the transfer is relatively slow and slight," Egeria answered thoughtfully. "Harry and I can feel the magic in the disks, but I doubt anyone else can. I do not know about magical scans and what they will tell, but I think overall people will dismiss them as simple jewellery."

"Weird to think that this thing works like wand," Ron mused, tracing the fairly Roman design with his finger. "Thanks for not making them girly, by the way."

"I'm going to smack you if you don't stop saying that," Harry said, pushing though. "Besides, it was Luna who designed the outlook, mostly."

"Still," Ron answered, happily ignoring the threat as he hung the medallion around his neck. "At least I can wear this without endangering my masculinity. Too badly"

Harry narrowed his eyes and then punched his shoulder lightly. "Git," he said, and then turned to the others. "We'll be arriving in Earth's orbit tomorrow," he said, making the amused smile fade and faces turn serious. "We've done pretty much all we can do without knowing the state of things. Does anyone have any other ideas about what we should do, before I take the ship down to earth and we check Neville's pub out?"

They looked at each other and then shook their heads. Ginny batted the Zat'nik'tel at her side, where it rested in rough holster they had made for the weapons. "We're about as prepared as we can, aren't we?" she asked. "With these darlings, the medallions and all, we're just about all set."

"There's the matter of disguise, but I've been working on that," Hermione said, and when others gave her confused looks, she shrugged. "One of us has to go to that pub to get the paper, and since we might be thought to be dead, it might be best that we keep our identities hidden. So, who ever goes, has to go under disguise," she turned away and fetched a piece of cloth from her bed. "It's pretty rough - there wasn't that much material to work with, but it should be better than nothing," she said, as she displayed the hooded cloak - made from one of her duvets, apparently. "But just to be on the safe side, I can cast some charms on who ever goes - to change their hair colour, skin tone, and such. It's not as good as Polyjuice, but…"

"Only temporarily, right?" Ron asked, his eyes a little wider. "Despite everything, I'm fond of my hair colour." He stopped, as everyone turned to stare him. "What? Of course I'm the one who goes. Harry can't because he has Egeria, we can't risk him. Neville can't because someone might recognise him. Luna's not the most inconspicuous even if we would change her hair colour - and Ginny works best as back up because she's the kind of sneaky stalker-witch who can secretly attack people from behind - ow!"

"Who are you calling a stalker, you prat?" Ginny said, but with a slight grin.

"Anyway," Ron said, glaring at her. "Of all of us, I'm the most expendable - and if you change my hair colour and hide the freckles and all, no one will recognise me. So I should go."

"Aside from the expendable part, he has a point," Harry mused. "The most well known Weasley feature being the hair - and Ron will look completely unlike himself with a different colour."

The others nodded slowly, agreeing with it as they eyed Ron's hair. "Maybe we should cut the whole thing off. Make him bald. No one would know him then," Ginny suggested with a grin.

"Screw you," Ron muttered, shoving lightly at her shoulder in retaliation.

"So, we're all ready for tomorrow?" Harry asked and everyone nodded. "Alright then. I think we best try and rest as much we can today. No matter what will happen, its better we're prepared for it."

The rest of the day and night were spent mostly in quiet, with everyone taking time for themselves to think and relax. They all took turns bathing and washing their clothes. Egeria and Harry did too, but most of their time was spent at the cockpit, staring at the blur of the hyperspace, thinking about the Tok'ra prim'ta back in Pangar. What would happen on earth would determine how soon they could see their children again - or if they could at all.

_'We might need to lock the ring transporter,'_ Egeria mused. _'If the ministry has not destroyed theirs and they try to use it, they could transport themselves onboard…'_

_'I agree. We can't compromise the ship,'_ Harry agreed. _'We need to take the remote control device with us - and maybe hide it somewhere, so that no one can take it from us.'_

With this security measure decided upon, Egeria fell back to think of her children, of her twenty nine new Tok'ra, wondering how they were. The Pangarians would take care of them, she knew they would, but she still couldn't help but worry. She could feel Harry wondering about the same thing - about their futures, about their future hosts, what would happen if they weren't there to see it… and how he worried about the next day, about the war, about Voldemort and Dumbledore and Sirius and so many other things.

He closed his eyes and together they worried.

x

So, the year is actually 1997. And in canonical times, this means that Stargate Command has started and then gone onto their break, the Abydos mission has happened and Daniel Jackson is enjoying married life in Abydos. Right. Also, the pairings have already been selected - I'm not taking any requests or suggestions.

My apologies for possible grammar errors.


	3. Third part

Warnings; Eventually slash and sort of Mpreg. Not yet in this part, though. Spoilers all around.

**Queen Mother**

**Third part**

Though it was Egeria who had the experience and knowledge, of the two of them Harry was infinitely better pilot. Egeria both knew it instinctively and realised now, as she watched how Harry easily manoeuvred the ship through the atmosphere and the cloud coverage in way that wouldn't disturb their pattern in the slightest. Unlike Egeria, who had always been more of a scientist and then a philosopher - more of a scholar in any case - Harry was born to fly, and be it by broom or ship, he knew how to do it perfectly.

"Merlin, this is so _cool_," Ron murmured behind them, while absently running his hand through his recently dyed hair. Dark brown did not fit him as well as red did. "I can see a town. That is a town, isn't it?"

"No, that's a city, actually," Hermione answered, grinning. "It's long way down, so they look pretty small."

"Even cooler," Ron said, leaning forward. "We're going pretty fast though. Why can't we feel it?"

"Inertial dampeners, they're um… probably best explained later," Harry said and glanced back at the others over his shoulder. "Neville, come here. I'm going to need some directions."

As Neville pointed him the direction, Harry followed certain roads up and down, while the scenery below them changed and shifted. Egeria marvelled quietly how much _people_ there were on Earth. Six billion was a big number even for a Tok'ra, and she hadn't quite believed it. But there were cities and towns and villages below them and at single glance you could see about as many housings as you usually saw on an entire _planet_.

_'The Goa'uld have such an impact on human worlds - they never seem to become so vastly populated. Earth, without that influence…'_ she thought, but it was still a bit overwhelming.

"That's the town," Neville eventually said. "There's a field right left to it that's almost completely empty - and it's not used for farming either, so no one shouldn't be there. And with the trees and all, no one would probably notice if something strange was going on. You can land there."

Harry nodded, and concentrated onto the controls, into carefully manipulating the ship down. Everyone seemed to hold their breaths for a moment, until the ship landed with a soft thump and Harry powered down the engines. "We're still cloaked so no one will be able to see us, but they might see the indent in the grass we're making, so let's try and do this quickly," he said, turning away from the controls.

"Let's get to work then," Hermione said and turned to Ginny, Neville and Ron who were the ones to go - Ron to get the paper, Neville to show him the way to the pub, and Ginny to work as backup. "We need to disillusion you all - it's a muggle town, so having Ron walking around in a cloak might draw some attention. Once you make it to the pub, Ginny or Neville will cast a finite on you to make you visible again. Any questions?"

"Is there any way to call you if something goes wrong?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Ah, yes, there is," Harry said and turned away to fetch one of the Goa'uld visual communications devices. He threw it to Neville, who caught it with a confused look about his face. "Just hold it in your hand and speak, and it'll activate. We'll be able to hear and see you here on the ship."

"It's a _ball_, Harry," Ginny said.

"Yes. Highly technological and advanced super ball, with image display capabilities and everything. Just trust me, it'll work," Harry said with a grin, and stood up. "You three ready to be disillusioned?" he asked.

They glanced at each other a bit uneasily before steeling their resolve and straightening their backs. Together, they nodded, and with a grim smile Harry pulled out his wand to cast the charm - which turned the three of them in to strange see-through blurs that seemed distort the space behind them like hot air. Magic really was amazing, Egeria conceded once more. She doubted she'd ever get over it.

"I don't know how long the charms will last on their own - they should last at least some hours, but if you get into a sticky situation, don't trust them to have your back completely," Harry said, and motioned them to follow. "Now come on. The door's this way."

"The Disillusionment charm is somewhat detectable, so try and avoid any contact, and hide when ever possible," Hermione instructed the three invisible magicians. "And when you finish the charm on Ron, make sure you don't accidentally cast it yourself - you won't be undo it if you do. And -"

"Relax Hermione, we got this. It's not like we haven't been planning this for weeks," Ron's voice came from one of the blurs. "Let's just get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can come back."

Harry nodded opening the door. Egeria could feel him stopping for a moment and breathing in the late spring air that pushed inside the moment he did. _'I didn't realise the filtered air had turned so stale inside the ship,'_ he mused, as he took a moment to enjoy the slight breeze. Then he turned away from the door. "Leave a mark in the ground so you will know where the door is - and try not to run smack into the ship when you return."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ron grumbled, pushing at his shoulder in retaliation before walking past him. On the outside, they could see how indents of foot prints appeared out of nowhere into the grass, before a large stone levitated itself to the front of the entrance - and then another smaller one floated to sit on top of it. "Well then," he said. "Ginny, Neville, let's go. We have a paper to snag."

"Try and take couple if you can manage it - from different days," Hermione called. "And any other piece of news would be useful too. And if you can over hear rumours, keep them in mind too. And -"

"We _got it_ Hermione, we know what to do," Ron called back, and then they were gone.

There was moment of quiet in the ship before Luna said, "I hope the Bibbling Humdingers won't get them."

Harry grinned. "If they do, they're all on their own," he said, and closed the door. "Come on. We can wait in the cockpit."

Though in reality, the wait wasn't longer than an hour, it felt like it stretched on and on - especially since Hermione fretted a little about this and that thing that might go wrong. Luna didn't seem too worried - she seemed actually quite happy, humming to herself as she lay on her back on the cockpit floor, counting the lines in the ceiling. Egeria supposed it was because they were out of hyperspace - Harry was having easier time breathing too.

Harry on other hand occupied himself during the wait, but running system check ups and keeping eye on the life sing detector, to make sure that no random human would come knocking. _'The hyper drive needs some tweaks before we head back to Pangar,'_ he noted at one point. _'We probably should see what we can do about the shields,'_ he added in another point. _'Hm. The life support has only been working with eighty four perfect efficiency. Must be all the stuff we've added to the ship - there isn't need or space for as much air…'_ and so on. As they were mostly rhetoric annotations, Egeria didn't bother him with answers.

When the others finally returned, they could only see Ron, walking over the field with a paper bag in his arms and slightly puzzled expression. By the looks of it, the paper bag was full of news papers - good half dozen of them, at least. Harry and Hermione shared a surprised look, before stepping around half dozing Luna and making their way to the door, to open it.

"I got some food," Ron said, stepping inside after testing the space where the door was with his hand to determine if the door was open or not. "Got some meat pastries, pumpkin pie, and check _this_ out -" he pulled out two bottles of butterbeer from the bag while two blurs joined them inside the ship. "Ta daah! I can't even remember what this stuff tastes like! There's only two bottles, so we have to share, but still, isn't this brilliant?"

"We sent you to get us a news paper, not butterbeer," Hermione said, but she looked as puzzled as Egeria and Harry felt.

"Where did you get the money? Or did you steal it - did Ginny or Neville -" Harry started, frowning slightly.

"No, no. It was the strangest thing, but the manager at the Leapcat gave it all to me, after I asked for the newspapers - pretty cool old guy. Almost made me stay in for a dinner before I managed to get away," Ron answered, shaking his head. "It was really weird. He told me to come again too - that he could give me a free meal, me and whoever else might be in _need._"

"I think he thought Ron was poor or something - no offence, Hermione, but the cloak does kind of look like you made it from sheets," Ginny said from nowhere. "Harry, could you kindly take this thing off? It took me and Neville six tries before we managed to undo the spell on Ron - and even then we had to do it together."

"Sorry," Harry answered with a frown. "It must've came out stronger than I meant it to." He pulled out his wand and quickly undid the invisibility charms on both blurs, bringing first Ginny and then Neville back into view. "So, the manager thought Ron was a charity case. That's… that means something, right?"

"It means that the guy is pretty generous - though he's always been like that, he used to give me candy for free when I was a kid. He wasn't too surprised to see someone like Ron, though, so we kind of figured that it wasn't the first time it happened at the Leapcat," Neville said. "He got us the papers, though - gave us today's Daily Prophet and every paper from last week, so that's good."

"Well then… Let's open the butterbeer and have a look," Ron enthused, and before Hermione could snag one of the papers, he was already making his way to the kitchen. After Harry closed the door, they all followed him, Luna joining them too with a sleepy look about her, and her hair, which was slipping from Egeria's hairdressing again, looking like a bird's nest.

As Ron opened the butterbeer and poured each of them a glass, Hermione and Harry reached for the newspapers. Egeria marvelled the moving pictures for a moment, not really surprised but as memory didn't always cover the whole thing she was still very impressed with them. Harry, on other hand, was concentrating onto the title.

"_Gringotts to sign the Storage Control Act tomorrow_," he read the title out loud, lifting his eyebrows. "_The Act to restrict the storage of level D magical items in Gringotts vaults set in motion by Minister_… Minister _Dumbledore?_" he stopped reading, staring at the paper in shock, his shock pushing over Egeria like a tidal wave.

"What?" echoed through the room, as everyone echoed the shock, leaning forward.

"Yeah! It says Minister Dumbledore!" Harry agreed, turning the paper around and pointing at the text. "Right here!"

There was a moment spent in shocked silence, before Egeria took over, too curious about the article to wait. She turned the paper around, and continued reading. "… _items in Gringotts vaults set in motion by Minister Dumbledore was vetoed by the Wizengamot eight times, before Gringotts finally took the matter into consideration in eighteenth of February_," she continued reading. "_The lag in the matter was mostly due to the appeal to stop the Act by the Traditionalist Party, which vehemently argued against the Act. Gringotts head, Ragnok of the Grimstone clan, wasn't available to comment, but the Goblin Liaison at the Ministry, Griphook of the Deepdig clan, has expressed his satisfaction towards the act. 'The Act will overall cause a ten percentage drop in Gringott's revenue, but the return income from new customers, who will feel safer with the Act in place, is estimated to bring enough profit to cover the drop.' Article continued in page eight…_"

"Fascinating," Ron said fatly. "But I think you missed the point where it says _Minister bleeding Dumbledore!_"

"Actually, it is fascinating," Hermione said. "For one, what is the Traditionalist Party? And since where there has been a goblin as the Goblin Liaison? It was a human the last time I heard it. And what's the Act about?"

"You're missing the point too. Minister Dumbledore, Hermione. _Minister Dumbledore_!" The others, with the expectation of Luna who was taking small sips of her butterbeer, nodded vehemently in agreement.

"It's not _that_ big of a shock, actually," Egeria said, thinking back to what Harry knew about the man. "Dumbledore was asked for the Minister's position before Fudge was, except he declined it at the time. The logical conclusion from here on would be that Fudge lost the position and Dumbledore was asked again - only this time, he accepted it."

"No, no, no. The last time we were here, the Ministry was happily stomping Dumbledore and his reputation to the ground - and spitting onto it for good measure," Ginny said. "I don't see how they would go from that into _Minister_ Dumbledore in ten months alone."

"Politics. It happens," Hermione said, busily reading through her paper. "I think your issue is older that this one - listen to this. _More artefacts discovered - monetary value immeasurable. The investigation at Gringotts continues, as the Goblin Nation and the Magical Law Enforcement Office go through older and inactive vaults in order to bring Gringotts to the level required by the Storage Control Act. So far, countless of Dark Artefacts have been discovered, though the vaults they have been recovered from have been kept secret from the public. The greatest discovery was made in the inactive vault of the long since deceased Welseir family, where several national treasures, stolen from the Ministry good four hundred years ago and thought to be lost in ages, were recovered…_"

"Like I said, fascinating," Ron said again, now frowning. "I don't think you two are seeing the gravity of the situation."

"They're going through the Gringotts vaults for dark artefacts? That's what the Storage Control Act is about?" Neville asked.

"Seems like it. I guess Level D means dark, or maybe deadly…" Hermione agreed, leafing through the pages. "There doesn't seem to be any mention about the war - wait, what's this…" she frowned at the article, then her eye brows rose sharply. "Oh, here's something. _The terrorist group known as Death Eaters still allude the Auror Corps. After the mass arrest that took place in the Malfoy Manor in twenty sixth of December last year, there have been no activity from the Death Eaters, or their leader_… _Voldemort_. They actually write You-Know-Who's name in the Daily Prophet now?"

"Wait, they raided Malfoy Manor? And actually arrested people? Sweet," Ron grinned.

"Yeah," Ginny nodded. "Is there more?"

"Um, yeah, there is," Hermione nodded. "… _or their leader, Voldemort. The head of the Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, assures that it is only matter of time before the terrorists will be brought to justice for the atrocities they have committed both in the magical world and in the muggle world. 'These type of people can't remain in hiding for too long - their pride and arrogance won't allow them to sit by and do nothing. And when they try to act, that is when we will get them,' the Chief of Auror Corp swears. 'We have our best people on this - and it's like Chief Warlock said in her memorable acceptance speech; We live in a new era now, the era of responsibility - and those responsible will get what coming to them._" She stopped. "It goes on for a little longer, but mostly it's about the background of the Death Eaters, nothing we don't know already."

They of them were quiet for a moment, mulling over the words. "So, we have Dumbledore as the Minister, a new Chief Warlock who seems to have the respect of the Chief of Auror crops, and Voldemort and his group have been renamed _terrorists_?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"And Aurors who seem to be actually doing their jobs," Neville nodded, frowning as he too reached for a paper. "It's… not really how I thought it would be in here, not with the way the ministry was back when we were last here. I thought they'd be shoulder-deep in a war right about now."

"Yeah, or already conquered," Harry murmured, pushing past Egeria and opening his news paper to read more. "Suddenly it seems a bit silly that we… were in such a hurry to get back. I mean. It's almost like…"

"Like they don't need us," Luna said, smacking her lips together and then looking at Harry's untouched butterbeer glass thoughtfully. "Are you going to drink that?"

"Go ahead," he said absently as he and Egeria continued reading the Daily Prophet. There were more information about the Storage Control Act, which they glanced over before skipping to an article about some international cooperation mission between them and the magical side ofUnited States- something aboutAfrica, it seemed to be mostly about aid for the local magicians with something. There were some news about some celebrities - entire spread spared for some musical group. And then, at the back of the paper, there were the Ministry News pages, where latest from Wizengamot, Ministry and the rest was written in black and white - every new rule and law approved, every court session and meeting, every appeal and decision, all written down.

"Neville," Harry said after a moment. "I think you should take a look at the Wizengamot report in the back."

Frowning, Neville did - and he wasn't the only one, as most of them had now papers they were reading through. "Wizengamot report. Written by Court Scribe Percy Weasley. Members present, Chairman Amos Diggory. Chief Warlock… Augusta Longbottom?" Neville read with oddly flat tone, for a moment seeming like though he had read it, he hadn't really gotten it. He blinked, before bringing the paper closer, and rereading it more closely. "Augusta Longbottom. It really says Augusta Longbottom…" he lowered the paper with eyes wide. "Maybe it's another Augusta Longbottom?"

"How many Longbottoms are there?" Hermione asked, she too looking at the latest report from Wizengamot.

"Well… about two dozen, but… It can't be her, I mean… She's my grandmother, she's not like… like that, I mean…" Neville blinked again at the article, looking lost at words. "She _hates_ the ministry. Why would she ever, how could she - she's not exactly the most political… I don't…"

Ginny grinned, patting his backs. "Congrats, you have a politician in the family," she said, and held up his glass for him. "Here, drink to it."

Neville drained the glass in one swallow, and then continued to stare at the article in wordless disbelief.

"Well… overall, this is good for us, isn't it?" Hermione asked. "Dumbledore as Minister, Neville's grandmother as Chief Warlock. That means we can… go home, can't we?" she looked at the others and then tuned to Harry. "Can't we?"

Harry frowned and Egeria send him a question. He shook his head, both at her and at Hermione. "Of course, if you want to," he said. "I can give you a lift, where ever you want to go. But I think I want to keep to… myself for a little while longer."

"Why?" Hermione asked, as the others turned to stare at Harry.

He grimaced, memories of Dursleys, of Hogwarts and of Grimmauld place flashing before his and Egeria's eyes. Then Madam Pomfrey, who would probably be able to discover Egeria with one wand wave - and then remove or kill her with another. "I think I'll just… observe a little longer," he said. "If I can. I want to know how things ended up like this anyway - how and why Dumbledore is the Minister, for one. And what happened after we vanished - what did they do or say about us vanishing."

The others frowned and nodded in agreement. "How about I go?" Neville asked. "I could go home, see grandmother, find out what's going on. She might send me to St. Mungos and have them check that I'm not impostor or something, who knows, but if she really is the Chief Warlock, then among us I'm in the best position to find out about what's happened."

Harry frowned at that, but Egeria had to agree. Neville was in the best position among them. Hermione, Ron and Ginny might end up being whisked away into hiding by the Order and then they'd never head from them again - and Luna, well. She might find out about things, but what those things were was another matter. "I agree," Egeria said, pushing past Harry. "Neville does have a opportunity and access we others do not. And if he takes the long distance communication device with him, he can inform us how it goes easily and safely."

Hermione nodded slowly. "It does seem like a plan, but are you sure, Neville?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wanna see her. And my parents if possible, I need to know that they're…" he glanced at Harry and Egeria, and straightened up a little. "I just need to know what I can and can't say to grandmother. I figure we won't be telling people everything - or maybe anything at all - but she's probably going to ask, and I need to tell her something."

They shared a look, before Egeria shrugged. "Tell her the truth. You got stranded to another world - and only after some time figured how to get back. Except now you aren't sure about the state of the world, and until you do the others will remain hidden for a little while longer," she offered and smiled. "Just, leave the alien technology and myself out of the explanation."

Neville grinned. "That could work."

"Also, if questioned by a professional, don't look people into their eyes," Harry said with spark of old paranoia. "Just in case."

x

The wait, after they dropped Neville off at the edge of his family's land along with some of his new possessions and the communication sphere, was excruciating. Hour went by in almost complete silence, as the others waited with baited breaths for some news. Then another hour, quietly whispering and worrying. Every hour after that seemed just longer than longer, and it was impossible to tell what was going on in the mansion despite the fact that they were still hovering fairly near by - the mansion was warded so heavily that like Hogwarts, it couldn't be seen from the outside - not even by wizards. And if people went in or out, it was all done inside the wards, with no one setting one foot outside.

While waiting, they read through the few newspapers they had for every titbit of information. They didn't tell that much about the past - except for referencing this and that thing that had happened in the last few months, attacks, laws, rules, decisions, magical concerts and so forth. Nothing was said about the disappearance of Harry and the others, nor was there any information about how Dumbledore and dame Longbottom had ended up being in charge. There wasn't anything about Fudge either, or Umbridge - though they did discover that McGonagall was now the Headmistress of Hogwarts from a small mention about change in Hogwarts curriculum.

_'Nothing about Sirius either,'_ Harry sighed, after the second time he leafed through one of the papers. _'Doesn't even say if he's still a fugitive or if Dumbledore got him pardoned - or at least re-trialled. Nothing.'_

_'Patience, Harry,'_ Egeria whispered, though she couldn't help but feel anxious as well. Sirius was, in a way, her godfather too, and she too was eager to know. _'All we can do now I wait for Neville to contact us - and jumping into conclusions will help none of us.'_

"Well, at least I know what Percy and dad are doing," Ginny said after a while. "And that dad at least still has his job. That's a good sign, right?"

"Probably," Hermione agreed.

"Who cares about Percy," Ron snorted. "I bet he's still being a git."

"You never know, they might've solved their differences while we've been gone. And with Ministry under different management, at least the propaganda should be over," Egeria said. She lowered the paper Harry had been reading with a sigh. Being so uninformed, so in the dark didn't agree with her - and it agreed with Harry even less. If they hadn't had the newspapers to occupy them, Harry would've probably been pacing up and down the ship in agitation.

"What will we do when Neville calls back? I mean… if it's like we think, and that it's safe to go back," Hermione said. "Will we?"

"Harry and I can drop all of you at your houses, but… what comes to the two of us…" Egeria sighed, running her hand through Harry's messy hair. "We weren't sure what it would be like, but we didn't think it would be like this, so… we don't quite I know what to do with ourselves. Or what would be safe to do. Is the war even going on anymore - is there anything here for us to do? Or should we just head back to Pangar, would that be better?"

"You're not seriously thinking that - about just taking off. Are you?" Ron asked worriedly.

"No, not just like that - we want to know more, we need to know more. And we promised not to go without you," Egeria said. "And we're not going to. I still need to have a look at Neville's parents to see if there is anything I could do for them. But, seeing all this… it does seem a bit foolish how we thought that we would be _needed_ here. It seems… arrogant even."

"It is arrogant," Luna said, making Egeria frown slightly. "But it's that Harry brand of _I personally must save everyone_ arrogance, so we forgive you."

Ron and Ginny snorted in unison and even Hermione grinned, making Egeria and Harry both bristle. They were saved from further insults when the transmitter at the controls beeped, calling for their attention. Quickly Egeria accepted the transmission, and immediately after Neville's face appeared to the screen.

"Guys?" Neville asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, this is pretty cool. Can you hear me?"

"We can see you too," Egeria assured while on the floor, everyone abandoned the newspapers and rushed forward to see. "Seems like the transmission works even through magical wards. I was worried it might not."

"And now you tell us?" Ron asked, frowning.

"How is it going, Neville? What have you found out?" Hermione asked, pushing past Ron.

"Ah, well… a lot. It's kind of… awe inspiring how much has happened here - and I mean, there's been lot going on. They had a small rebellion here and everything, at least that's how grandmother made it sound," Neville sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "I kind of let her know I have way of talking to you at a distance - she knows I'm talking to you right now, and she wants to talk to you too, but I thought I'd give you the head's up first."

"You told your grandmother about the communication device?" Egeria asked and then frowned. "Is it safe for _me_ to talk with you?"

"It's okay, I'm alone and I cast some security charms so no one can over hear - and no I didn't tell her exactly. I told her I had a way, but that was it," the brown-haired wizard assured. "She's a bit suspicious, sure, but she's always been like that - and she understands why _we're_ being suspicious, so that's okay. That's probably why she's letting me talk to you in private anyway."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better," Ron grumbled.

"What did she tell you? What have you learned?" Egeria asked, and everyone else leaned over the controller's chair to hear the answer, eagerly anticipating the news.

"Yes, right, um…Well, first of all, they did declare us dead," Neville started. "Apparently there are these sensor charms in Department of Mysteries which record everything going on here - who comes in, goes out, what they do, and all that. They're supposed to be fool proof too - and really secret, which is why the death eaters dared to come in, they didn't know the charms existed. When the transporter took us, the charms didn't comprehend it, though, and registered it as us dying - being completely disintegrated, actually."

"Nice," Ginny murmured.

"But we figured that might be the case," Hermione nodded. "Then what happened?"

"Um, well, ministry was still under Fudge's control, so you can imagine what he did. He had Prophet declare about our, what was it, _transgression_ in Ministry grounds and how our stupidity got us killed - grandmother had the article, it wasn't pretty read. It went almost ecstatic over Harry's supposed death," Neville grimaced. "And it even said that it was obviously Harry's fault that the rest of us got killed, and that Harry would be post humorously trailed for his crimes."

"Ouch," Harry murmured, and Egeria could feel his guilt. He was thinking of how, if the transporter _had_ disintegrated it, most of that article would've probably been true. Egeria endured it for only one thought's worth, before giving Harry a mental slap. _'It wouldn't have been. It would've been Voldemort's fault. And don't dare to try deny it.'_

"Woah," Ron said. "That's, wow. I bet that made ministry popular for a while."

"And of course no one said anything about the Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione scoffed.

"Of course not - and yeah, the Ministry thought they'd be riding the wave of Harry's criminality for a while," Neville grimaced - and then suddenly grinned. "But they did couple of mistakes."

"Such as?" Ginny urged him.

"Well, they sort tried to hide that that the rest of us were there - they just used us to boost Harry's infamy, and that was about it. They kind of glossed over us - they didn't even mention our names in the original article. Our families were informed in secret about how Harry Potter had supposedly killed us," Neville grinned. "They didn't take it well."

"Father printed an article," Luna assumed.

"No, he printed papers. Thousands of them. Had them delivered into every wizard household for free," Neville said. "But that was after my grandmother and Mrs. Weasley, started, you know, telling people. Pretty much every one they knew. And though our families aren't exactly the richest of the most prestigious out there, we have lot of friends - and lot of relatives."

"If mum was in it, it would've ended up in a riot," Ron said, sharing a surprised look with Ginny.

"It did. Diagon Alley, Ministry, even the Wizarding Wireless network was taken over for a while. The way grandmother made it sound, they made Voldemort look nice," Neville grinned, and then sobered. "Grandmother was mostly behind it, according to my uncle. She kind of… lost her temper. After what happened to my parents and then me, well…"

"I can understand completely," Egeria murmured. She would've lost her temper too, in the woman's place.

"So, they started riots, then what?" Hermione asked, anxious for more information.

"Well, it quickly got a bit ugly. Especially since it was a device in secret level of Ministry that supposedly killed us - something we should've never gotten access to, and all. Eventually even Prophet had to question that. So the Ministry tried to save face, and the published that there had been new results of some non-existent investigation and that they had discovered that death eaters were behind it," Neville said, snorting with laughter. "At which point everyone called bullshit, to quote my uncle."

"I bet," Ginny said, grinning. "Then what?"

"The way I figure it, it turned into a mayhem," the brown haired wizard said, grinning widely on the screen. "You-Know-Who back, Death Eaters breaking into Ministry, Ministry covering it up, and conspiracy about the death of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived? Not to mention about two youngest children of the Weasleys, the most brilliant witch of her generation - by the way, you broke records with your OWLs, Hermione, it was all in the papers, concradulations - plus the only daughter of the editor of the only magical newspaper who actually reported the truth before Harry Potter's death. And myself," he snorted again with laughter. "Fudge was out of office before the week was over."

"Brilliant," Ginny, Ron and Harry said together, grinning back at him.

"And after that, Dumbledore became the Minister for Magic?" Hermione asked, staring at the screen keenly.

"No, not immediately. They took this Auror, Rufus something, forgot the last name, and made him the Minister. It… lasted only about a month," Neville said, frowning. "He made some arrests, people who were apparently suspected of Death Eater activity, and for a while it seemed that he'd do a better job than Fudge. But most of the arrests were complete bollocks - they arrested _Stan Shunpike_ of all people." He shook is head in disgust. "At that point grandmother was pretty deep in the Ministry, after having unearthed a conspiracy and all - she was newly minted best friends with the head of the Auror Corps, and everything - so… when she called the Minister out on the arrests, lot of people listened. So, the Rufus fellow was kicked out of office too."

"And then they turned to Dumbledore?" Harry asked curiously.

"Actually, they turned to my grandmother - they wanted to make her the Minister, since she had the public's approval and all, and everyone else they considered would've probably gotten stoned out at that point," Neville shook his head. "She didn't want it, though and went for the Wizengamot post instead - she said that this way she could be certain that Ministry wouldn't be able do that kind of stuff anymore. She was the one who suggested Dumbledore."

"One would think the Ministry and the public would argue against that a bit more, after what Fudge did with Prophet," Hermione murmured.

"Oh, they did, but by that time my grandmother was apparently pretty popular and whatever she said… well, people went and dug up everything out. Ministry denied it all, but Prophet admitted that they had been 'coerced' to print the articles about Dumbledore because Ministry had threatened to take away it's backing, and all that," Neville nodded. "Prophet was apparently big help in getting Dumbledore approved, though. They did this whole nostalgia print about everything Dumbledore has done over the years, all the awards he's gotten, all that. Did you know that he's declined the Minister's position like dozen times?"

"But he agreed this time?" Harry asked thoughtfully. Egeria agreed - Dumbledore, as far as Harry's memories could be trusted, had always seemed happiest at Hogwarts.

"Not immediately - he out right would've refused, but grandmother had none of it," the wizard on the screen said, shaking his head. "Grandmother thinks it was the Order of Phoenix who got him take the job, but they don't know for sure. He did take the job, though - about six months ago." He turned his eyes to Harry. "One of the first things he did was re-visit old Wizengamot trials, and having them all investigated. Your godfather's among them. He was officially pardoned four months ago - with a compensation."

"Sirius is alive?" Harry asked quietly. He and the others - and Egeria after gaining Harry's memories - had suspected that Sirius had never been at the Department of Mysteries, but they hadn't known for sure.

"Yep - he even holds a family-seat in Wizengamot, though he apparently rarely shows up," Neville nodded. "Anyway, after becoming Minister, Dumbledore's been working pretty hard. There have been lot of arrests - Azkaban has gone bit of overhaul after they lost the trust in Dementors - and so forth. They think Voldemort has only handful of supporters left, if even that."

"Okay, so… we could go back," Hermione said.

"We could, but it'll cause a huge noise," Neville said, looking a bit awkward. "My family almost fainted - and grandmother did sent for my cousin, who is a Healer, to check that I'm not some impostor using Polyjuice. The whole magical world thinks we're dead, so now that we're here, it's like we've came back from the death. There might be something like press conferences involved - interviews and photo shoots if nothing else."

"Well, that sounds lovely," Harry sighed.

"I wouldn't mind," Ron said, perking up a little. "Getting my picture on the Daily Prophet, that would be pretty cool."

"We've all had our pictures in it already," Neville said. "It's kind of creepy actually." He shook his head on the screen, and turned his eyes Harry. "Anyway, grandmother wants to talk with you. I didn't tell her much about what's been going on with us, and she figures that you being you, that… well, you know."

"That he's our boss?" Ginny asked, grinning. "Or she."

"It," Ron nodded.

Harry threw a glare at them while Egeria laughed in the back of his head. "I'll do it," he said, turning back to Neville. "Just give me a moment, and then take the sphere to your grandmother." He turned away from the console, and pulled out his wand. The others took a hasty step back, as Harry quickly wove an illusionary sheet behind the chair, hiding the rest of the cockpit from view.

_'Very good,'_ Egeria said, satisfied. WhenAugusta would get the orb from Neville, she wouldn't be able to see the rest of the cockpit, only the chair and it's near vicinity. For her it would look like they could've been anywhere - and certainly not like they were in alien space ship. Not to mention about it being alien spaceship covered in vaguely Egyptian writing

_'I thought so,'_ Harry agreed, and returned to sit while the others tested the illusion sheet and then stepped through it.

"Give some warning before you do something like that," Ron objected. "I thought you were going to hex us!"

"Hex _you_, you mean. Keep it up and I'll will," Harry snapped with a sharp grin, and then turned back to the ship screen. "Okay, Neville, take the device to your grandmother. Let's see what we can answer to her questions."

Neville nodded and turned to walk away, jostling the communication sphere a little. "She might come off a bit forceful, try and not get offended about that, okay?" he asked, while apparently walking across a room

"I'm sure we can handle it," Harry promised. Egeria could feel how behind them, the others quickly moved close enough to see, as Neville walked through a door, across a corridor down a stair case, and then across another corridor before arriving into a large, room.

"Grandmother," Neville called, turning the communication sphere so that the image shifted from him to a lounge area, where elderly witch sat in formal looking robes, leafing through a wad of parchments. "Harry says that he'll answer your questions."

"Very well," the woman said, piling the parchments and setting them aside. She frowned at the communication sphere. "That is the strangest two way mirror I've ever seen."

"That is because it isn't one, ma'am," Harry answered with a slight smile. "Could you kindly hold the sphere in your hand? It requires physical contact to activate."

The sphere passed hands and while Neville sat beside his grandmother in the screen, Augusta Longbottom turned the communications device in her hand curiously. "Surprisingly heavy," she commented, sounding fairly unimpressed. "Well then, Mr. Potter. As happy as I am to see you and your companions alive, what is this about?"

"I'm afraid you will have to be more precise than that, ma'am. Do you mean our disappearance?" Harry asked, while Egeria considered the woman on the screen. She seemed formidable.

"Yes, why don't we start with that," the woman decided. "According to the information provided to us by the sensory charms in Department of Mysteries, you and the others, my grandson included, were disintegrated. And trust me when I say this, I've studied that data closely enough to know how infallible it is. So seeing you and my grandson, decisively _not_ disintegrated has thrown me off the broom, sort of speak."

Harry grinned while Egeria chuckled in the back of his mind. "Nothing is infallible, madam Longbottom - but I have to say, your sensor charms aren't that far off. We weren't disintegrated, though. We were demolecularized," Harry said. "For transport. The science of it's a bit complex, I won't get into that, but basically the rings broke us apart, then transported us elsewhere because that way it is simply much faster, and reconstructed us. We were perfectly fine afterwards - just a bit stranded."

"Demole… what?" madam Longbottom asked, and then frowned. "Broke you apart. I don't see how that is supposed to make any more sense, but let's move on. Stranded where?"

"Elsewhere," Harry said simply, folding his arms. "Where doesn't really matter in grand scheme of things. What matters that it took us a while to get back."

"I don't think so, young man. I think it _does_ matter," the woman disagreed, frowning. "If more people end up getting stranded there, then we need to know how to get them back -"

"That won't happen again. I have locked the ring transporter on the other end, so it cannot be used again. And it is as simple as destroying the rings at Ministry, making sure that no one can get themselves into trouble. In any case, I doubt the rings in the Ministry can be activated again, as it was a spell misfire that activated the rings at that time, an event no doubt hard to replicate even if the rings survived it unharmed," Harry answered calmly under the woman's glowering, making Egeria mentally beam with pride. Formidable host indeed.

"And even if you managed to somehow replicate the circumstances, even if the rings would transport someone again, it would not be the same place," Harry continued. "Our accident was one in a million chance, unlikely to happen again in similar fashion."

The woman on the screen raised a single eyebrow at that, before leaning back in her seat and looking thoughtful. "You aren't like I remember you to be, Mr. Potter," she said. "Ten months away has changed you greatly."

Harry smiled, but didn't take the bait. "Thank you, ma'am," he simply said.

Madam Longbottom cracked a small smile, apparently somewhat grudgingly. "Well then. Neville mentioned that you have some doubts about joining the magical civilisation," she said. "He also told me about your little excursion at the Leapcat - very good thinking, I grant you that much. Now, I assume you have noticed the… changes that have happened here in the last months, and have some questions?"

"Not that many questions, no, the newspapers answered most of those well enough," Harry agreed. "What I have is suspicions."

"What _we_ have, Harry," Hermione hissed. "It's not just you."

"Yes, yes. _We _have suspicions," the wizard agreed, making Egeria chuckle at him.

"Suspicions about what sort of welcome you would receive, I assume?" the elderly witch on the screen asked.

"We have some inkling what that will turn out to be like, so that is not as big of a problem. What _we_ are worried about is the treatment that would follow," Harry said, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to take a leap of faith. "When it all comes down to it we're all still under age - and there are adults who no doubt feel like it's their job to tell us what to do. And, frankly speaking, I have no intention of consenting to that."

"What do you mean by that?" the elderly witch asked.

"Well for one, I do not plan on returning to Hogwarts again," Harry said.

"Neither do I," Hermione added.

"Me neither," Ron agreed, and Egeria could see from the corner of her eye how Luna nodded.

"I'm not going to go back to Hogwarts either," Neville said on the corner of the screen

"Neville?" madam Longbottom asked, though her frown was more puzzled than outraged.

"Sorry, grandmother, but there are more important things I need to do. Hogwarts just… isn't all that important to me," Neville said, leaning forward to look at the communication sphere. "Tell her, Harry."

Harry frowned and then nodded, as Egeria whispered in the back of his mind how to word the explanation without giving anything away. Harry nodded again, more to her than to Neville, and then looked up again. "While away we've learned about some things which are now a bit more important than anything here is," he started. "I only returned to see the matter with Voldemort resolved because I knew if I didn't, I would spend the rest of my life wondering. Once it has been, I will return to where we were the last months, and I do not know if I'm ever going to come back. Hermione, Ron and Luna intend to come with me. And Neville…"

"Neville what?" madam Longbottom asked, looking between Harry and her grandson, narrowing her eyes.

"Ma'am," Harry called her attention back to him, before she could try to corner poor Neville. "There is a chance that Neville's parents might be cured," he started, and had her attention immediately. "Back where we were."

"Harry can tell if it's possible - he just need to see mum and dad and he'll be able to tell if they can be cured. And if they can be, then… then I want to take mum and dad there and see that they are," Neville cut in quickly. "It's not a perfect thing, there is a bit of a side effect to it, but I think mum and dad would accept it if it meant that they would be always lucid afterwards, and -"

He stopped, when madam Longbottom lifted her wrinkled hand to silence him. "A cure," she said slowly, turning to Harry. "For Frank and Alice?"

"Possibly. I would need to see them before I would know for sure, but yes. There might be," Harry agreed with a nod.

The old woman was quiet for a moment, lowering her hand and just staring at Harry. "Hmm," she then just hummed, and turned her attention to the others. "And what is the reason why you wish to go back?"

"Knowledge, chance to learn new things, new sciences - experience new things," Hermione answered immediately. "To be part of something greater than what we have here."

"Not gonna let Harry go off on his own - he'll get all the fun for himself and then probably get killed," Ron said, folding his arms. "He needs someone to watch his back,"

"Thanks, Ron," Harry muttered, but Egeria could feel that he was actually grateful.

"And you two?" madam Longbottom asked, looking between Ginny and Luna. "Why do you want to go?"

"Just do," Luna said serenely.

"And I'm not going anywhere," Ginny added, shaking her head. "Sorry guys, but… as cool as all that stuff was, I think I prefer home. It's just a bit easier to handle. And the… you know. No offence, but the whole thing just creeps me out."

"We understand," Harry assured her, and Egeria would've agreed as well if they hadn't had open communication going on. After smiling at Ginny reassuringly, Harry turned back to the screen. On it, madam Longbottom was tapping her chin thoughtfully with her fingers, eying them all.

"Interesting as this is," the woman says. "What will you do if people decide to stand in your way? Like said, you are all under age, and many might think that the decision is not up to you. And your godfather at least would most likely want to keep you where he can see you, Mr. Potter - especially after having spent ten months thinking you died because of him."

"Because of my own stupidity and naivety," Harry muttered. "I won't speak for the others, but Sirius will just have to suck it up and take it like man if it comes down to it."

Madam Longbottom smiled. "Not a parchment-cut-out after all, hm?" she murmured, straightening her back. "What if he or someone else won't take no for an answer, decides to keep you here against your will?"

Harry didn't have to answer - the unified snorts of amusement coming from behind him answered for him. Harry merely smiled back and shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose we would have to fight over it," he said. Egeria snorted with dark amusement as well. Wizards, standing between them and Pangar - between them and Egeria's _children_? Even if Harry hadn't been empowered by the Naquadah Egeria had given him even if he hadn't been backed up by her experience - even if she wasn't there at all - she still would've placed bets on Harry and no one else. He was extremely single minded when it came to these sort of things - it was determination she doubted anyone could be able to match, experience or no experience.

"Hmm…" madam Longbottom hummed, considering Harry for a moment, before suddenly nodding with satisfaction. "You chose well, Neville," she decided. "Now, how about you five join us here at the manor? We have plans to make."

"We do?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. If you intend to return to the place you were, it will take some doing - especially if the others are going with you, not to mention about Neville, Frank and Alice," the elderly witch said, nodding. "There are the terrorists to consider as well - not to mention about the families of others in your party. There is much to plan, so stop wasting time," she added while standing up and making the communication sphere jostle. "I will get the tea on," she finished, and the communication was cut off as she put the sphere away.

Harry eyed the darkened screen for a moment, and then glanced at the others. "Well," he said. "I guess we're going to have some tea."

x

Behold. An update.

My apologies for possible grammar errors.


	4. Fourth part

Warnings; Eventually slash and sort of Mpreg. Not yet in this part, though. Spoilers all around.

**Queen Mother**

**Fourth part**

Egeria had to admit, the moment Harry and the others exited the ship it was both worrisome and oddly relieving. To feel natural gravity, breathe in natural early evening air and feel an actual breeze was something that both she and Harry had missed, so it was great to feel it all again. It was, however, slightly scary, leaving the ship into forest just outside the Longbottom residence, cloaked but still out in the open.

_'The automated proximity sensor will warn us if someone tries to approach it,'_ she said to Harry, who was thinking about whether or not someone should stay behind and watch the ship. The words, however, were thought more to reassure her than him, not that she'd admit it.

"Aah, grass," Ron murmured beside them. "I've missed grass. Have you missed grass, Harry?"

"I suppose," Harry answered, raising a single eyebrow at him.

"Funny thing to miss, grass, but I missed it," the redhead mused. "Missed wind too. And air. In the ship it smelled kind of metallic all the time. Kind of missed the sky too. And trees. And -"

"Yes, yes, we know, life on a spaceship is very lacking of grass, wind, sky and trees," Ginny, who had grabbed a wad of grass from the ground and was now smelling it, said. "Trust me, we know. I thought I'd go insane on that boat," she sighed heavily, smiling at the grass. "No offence, Harry."

"It's Ra's ship, so none taken," the black haired wizard assured, shaking his head while Egeria chuckled. "Come on. We can marvel Earth later – we don't want to be late from the tea party."

"Yeah, Neville's grandmum might beat us with a rolling pin if we are," Ron snorted.

"Behave," Hermione said at him, and together they walked out of the woods, following Luna who was happily skipping a head with the joy of someone who hadn't gotten to chance to happily skip in a while.

_'She's making a mess of her hair again,'_ Egeria sighed, noting that despite the fact that she had used a scarf to try and secure Luna's hair in place, it was already starting to break free from its binds. _'What am I going to do with that girl?'_

_'More of the same, I imagine,'_ Harry answered amusedly. _'You mother hen.'_

_'You're the one to talk.'_

When they came to the edge of the wards, Neville was waiting for them. "Hey, guys," he greeted them with a faint grin. "Parked alright?"

"Well enough," Harry agreed. "Anything we should be aware off before we…" he nodded towards the wards and the mansion they were hiding from plain sight.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here. Grandmother called Amelia Bones here – the head of Magical Law Enforcement. As far as I can tell, it's just her for now, but still," Neville grimaced, looking a little sheepish. "I told her not to, but she thinks it's necessary. Sorry about that."

Harry grimaced too, but at Egeria's nudging he sighed. "It's alright, I suppose we should've expected something like that," he said, absently checking his wand and then the Zat'nik'tel to make sure they were easily accessible if needed. "Let's just hope that Chief Bones is as nice as your grandmother is."

"Should we expect to see Dumbledore here too?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.

"Probably not, not yet," Neville said, frowning a little. "I got the impression that they've had some disagreements and grandmother doesn't want Dumbledore in on this while it can be prevented. Something about changing the meaning of things and false information and something like that." He stepped aside and motioned them to follow him. "Step between the two rocks," he instructed. "That's the only spot where the wards are open – if you don't, you'll get a bit nauseous."

"How much is a _bit_?" Ron asked, frowning at the two rocks.

"Rather like double dose of food poisoning, with diarrhoea on top of it," Neville said sheepishly. "My grandfather had strange notions about security, and my grandmother keeps them alive. Come on."

They stepped cautiously inside between the two rocks, and as they did, the mansion came into view. Egeria marvelled the design for a moment, especially liking the wooden pillars in the front. One couldn't call the place beautiful, not when it was coloured rather like muddy ground and the rooftop drooped a little, but it was still very impressive two story mansion with wings and balconies and large greenhouse on the side.

"My family used to be really wealthy about two hundred years back," Neville said awkwardly as they approached the mansion. "My great great grandmother was a successful business woman – owned most of Britain's potions trade at the time. That was before the Lestranges and the Malfoys made a coalition and took it all."

"And before Malfoys stabbed the Lestranges in the back and kept the profit to themselves," Ginny mused. "Weird how they still run together after that, those two."

"Pureblood politics," Neville shrugged.

_'You wizards are a strange folk,'_ Egeria noted thoughtfully.

_'What you mean_ you? _This is all news to me too,'_ Harry objected. _'And I agree with you on that. The whole pureblood thing has never made much sense to me.'_

Neville led them to the porch and then inside large double doors which, some decades back, had probably looked magnificent. Inside, there was a faint smell of dust and age, but the smell of smoke and food plants covered it. They followed Neville across the hall and into the same sitting room, where Madam Longbottom had been when they had communicated through the sphere. The elderly witch was sitting in the exactly same couch she had been during the communication, but there was someone else their as well, sitting on an armchair beside her.

"Well," Amelia Bones said, lowering her tea cup and standing up. "Well, well. The miraculous return from death. I must admit, despite Neville's presence, I didn't quite believe it."

"I still quite don't," Augusta Longbottom said, and pulled out her wand. Harry raised his eyebrows with slight surprise, as the woman aimed the wand at him. "Neville, go and fetch your cousin," the elderly witch said. "We shall see if they are who they appear to be."

"Grandmother, this is ridiculous. They're not impostors," Neville almost groaned.

The old woman glanced at her grandson with surprise, making him flush a little. Despite his embarrassment, the old woman seemed almost pleased to hear him talk back to her. "I'm sorry, Neville, but these days you can't trust anything at face value. Go and fetch your cousin," she said. "If they are who they say they are, they have nothing to be worried about."

Neville sighed and looked at Harry, raising his eyebrows with question. Harry nodded. _'It can't be helped – and at this point objecting would only cause problems,'_ he thought to Egeria, who felt her sudden anxiety echoed in him. _'It might mean that they will discover you,'_ he added, stating what they were both thinking.

_'And then what?'_ Egeria asked worriedly.

_'Then nothing. If they try anything, I will shoot them,'_ Harry snorted silently. _'And my magic will fight back any attempts to remove you.'_

_'It will?'_ the queen asked, more hopeful than surprised, and felt the said magic curling protectively around her.

_'It will,'_ her host thought back sternly, and then glanced at the others who had taken his cue and remained relaxed. He turned his eyes back to Augusta. "Do you want us to hand our wands over?" he asked calmly, though Egeria knew he had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

"You can keep them. As it is, I'm more worried about those than your wands," Madam Longbottom snorted, nodding at the Zat'nik'tels Harry and the others all carried. Beside her, Chief Bones was giving the weapons some considering looks as well.

"Oh?"

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Potter. I know what a muggle gun looks like, and though that's not it, those are similar enough to indicate their purpose. And I know you wouldn't be carrying one if whatever it did could be counteracted or replicated with a wand," the elderly witch said. "So whatever they are, it's sure to be nasty."

"Hm. Good reasoning," Harry nodded. "Mind if we sit down?" he then asked, and at the old witch's nod, he and the others found seats in the couches of the sitting room. "I'm curious, though. If you think the Zat'nik'tels are nastier than wands, then why are you holding me at wand point?"

"Never hurts to be prepared," she said with a smirk, and then glanced up as Neville returned with his cousin, who was in middle of a sandwich as she entered. Though her hair was lighter shade and her eyes slightly darker, she still held striking similarity to Neville, having similar kind face and physical structure.

"Oh. Well. I guess the squirt wasn't lying," the slightly weighty witch said, blinking at Harry and the others.

"Why would I lie about something like this?" Neville asked with disbelief. "And don't call me a squirt."

"I'm afraid not, Janice dear. Now, could you check them over? Start with him," Madam Longbottom ordered, nodding at Harry.

"I ought to start charging you," the Healer murmured, but pulled out her wand. "Hand please," she said, and Harry held out his hand for her. Though for Harry magical medical examination was nothing new, Egeria watched it interestedly through his eyes, listening how the Healer murmured spells under her breath. Majority of them were Latin based just like majority of the spells Harry knew, and though the wording had been twisted around a bit, Egeria could still recognise most of them.

_'She's checking your blood for elements that aren't normally in it,'_ Egeria noted with concern.

_'Hm. I guess they've developed a way to detect Polyjuice then. Makes sense – even if the outwards appearance would be perfect, there would still be some traces of the potion in the blood stream,'_ Harry noted, watching the Healer's process with renewed interest – especially after she started frowning. Beside him, Hermione exchanged worried looks with Neville. "Found something?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah, there's something weird," the Healer nodded, lifting her eyes and then her wand. Without saying anything else, she cast what Egeria translated as full physique scan, looking for anomalies – then the words waded away in the roar of magic, as the spell found her. Egeria was for a moment blinded and deafened by the foreign magic as it prodded at her, before Harry's own rose and fought the spell back, wrapping around Egeria. If magic had had a voice, it would've been hissing.

When she could see through Harry's eyes again, both Madam Longbottom and chief Bones were aiming at their wands at him, while Harry aimed his at the Healer.

"Back off," Harry snarled, his other hand cradling the back of his neck, the warmth of his palm heating the delicate layers of skin and flesh that shielded Egeria. Moment later the Tok'ra queen knew that while the scanning spell had completely numbed her, for Harry it had felt like Egeria had been cut of – like she wasn't there at all anymore. Like the Healer had _removed_ her.

_'I'm here, I'm here!'_ she called quickly, reaching for Harry and sinking into his welcoming thoughts. _'I'm alright. I'm alright. We're alright.'_

Harry relaxed a little, but still kept his wand aimed at the Healer, who had hurriedly dropped her own wand, and was how holding her hands up in surrender. She was the only one, though. "Mr. Potter, lower your wand this instant!" Chief Bones demanded – and moment later, Hermione and Ron were on their feet, their wands in their hands, while Ginny and Neville had grabbed their Zat'nik'tels. Luna, on other hand, was holding them both, though her grip on them seemed frighteningly loose.

"What did you do, Janice?" Neville demanded. "What did you do?!"

The Healer looked more shocked by the fact that Neville was yelling, than either guilty or afraid. "I don't – I didn't…" she started, before frowning. "There's something inside him, a parasite or something – I was just trying to -"

"Oh Merlin," Hermione whispered, whirling to look at Harry.

"Harry?" Neville glanced at him, the Zat'nik'tel shaking slightly in his hand before steadying. "Is she – is she aright?"

"She got cut off for a moment, but yeah, she's fine. We're fine," Harry answered with a slightly shaky breath, his fingers clenching and unclenching around the back of his neck, around Egeria. He glared at the Healer. "You didn't think that maybe she was wrapped around my spine for a bloody reason?!" he rasped angrily.

"It's a parasite – I didn't think you were even aware of it!" she answered, now with note of angry defensiveness in her tone. "What was I supposed to think?!"

"You could've bloody asked!" Neville snapped, making the Healer freeze and blink rabidly with surprise and everyone quiet down for a moment. Neville drew an angry breath. "You were right Harry, we should've… We shouldn't have come. This was a mistake. We should go back."

"Now wait a moment here," Augusta Longbottom snapped. "What the bloody hell is going on, what parasite? I want some explanations before anyone is going anywhere -"

"I think I would too like to hear what is going on here -" Chief Bones started.

"I was only trying to do my job -"

"Your bloody job? You could've killed them both – you could've ruined whatever little chance my parents have -"

There was a tearing sound of energy and suddenly the ceiling above them all was sparkling with the blue tongues of electricity. As everyone, Harry included, ducked instinctively for cover, Luna alone remained standing, her Zat'nik'tel still aimed at the ceiling. She looked down onto the rest of them calmly, while everyone stared up at her in shock. "Ah," she said with satisfaction. "Silence."

"Bloody hell," chief Bones murmured, staring at the weapon in the blonde girl's hand. Luna smiled happily back, and then aimed the Zat'nik'tel at the chief Auror, making her hurriedly hold her hands and her wand up in surrender.

Few seconds of tense silence followed, before they slowly got back to their feet, all looking as disoriented as Egeria felt. "What is going on here?" Augusta Longbottom finally asked, but without even trying to pick up her wand, which she had dropped while ducking for cover.

Harry, who was now getting the Naquadah enhanced sensitivity back, collapsed into the sofa and made a motion at his friends to explain, while he kept on rubbing the skin around Egeria, soothing her and himself both. Egeria crooned mentally at him in comfort, a bit overwhelmed by the attention. Though she had always felt comfortable with Harry, sheltered in his body, she had never really realised just how much he got from her – how much more comfortable he felt with her, than he ever had by himself. More than anything, the emptiness he had felt when Egeria had been momentarily cut off had freaked him out.

"Harry has a symbiotic creature inside him, her name is Egeria, she's the reason why I think my parents might be cured, and Janice almost killed her – and probably almost Harry too," Neville explained through gritted teeth.

"Symbiotic… creature?" Madam Longbottom asked, frowning.

"Yes, they coexist together – Harry took her in to keep her from dying," Hermione said, sitting down beside him and placing her hand over his. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just felt… really uncomfortable," Harry answered. "Maybe I should go back," he said, closing his eyes. "Feels like I could use a Kel'no'reem or something," he muttered under his breath. Egeria chuckled weakly at the words.

"And this… creature lives inside him? Around his spine?" Bones asked curiously. "Why his spine?"

Harry peeked one eye open and then closed it again, letting his chin fall as he pulled back and away from control. Egeria felt his worry, anxiety even, about whether or not the Healer's spell had damaged their connection somehow – whether or not she could take control like normally. She sent him a reassuring thought, and then pushed forward, taking control and lifting her head.

"Contact with the spinal column is necessary so that I can take control," she answered the Auror's question, making her eyes widen and making the Healer take a step back at the sound of Tok'ra queen's distorted voice. Giving them a grim smile, Egeria looked at Harry's friends, most of whom were looking at her with worry. "I'm fine. It was only a little disorienting. Harry made it seem worse than it was."

_'It was_ _worse_,' Harry disagreed sullenly.

"You're this… symbiote creature?" Amelia Bones asked, stepping forward. "You can control him?"

"Yes, but I depend on Harry's graciousness – should he be against it, I wouldn't be able," Egeria nodded, lowering her had from her neck. "My name is Egeria."

"Are you some sort of… newly discovered magical creature?"

Egeria smiled at that. "No. I'm what humans would call _an alien_. My kind come from another world than this and existed long before your kind mastered fire," she said. "Harry and the others… discovered me in the world they got unwillingly taken to, and they helped me achieve freedom – and Harry saved my life by accepting me into himself."

"And you're now, what, two minds sharing a body?" the Auror asked, looking partially fascinated, partially worried.

"I suppose that would be one way of putting it," Egeria nodded.

"You're a _slug_," the Healer said, pointing a finger at Egeria. "I saw you. You're… you're some sort of worm."

"I think my kind is more like Earth's snakes than slugs or…worms. We do have bones and skeletal structure," Egeria said, trying very hard not to get offended.

"We? There's more of you?" Augusta asked sharply, and then turned to the others. "Do the rest of you -?"

"Just Harry, but when we go back I'm hoping I'll get one too," Hermione said with her chin lifted high.

"Me too," Ron nodded, while Neville shrugged.

"Why? Why would anyone want that?" the elderly witch asked.

"There are benefits," Egeria said. "For normal humans, being like me would mean accelerated healing, extended life span, and all the knowledge I posses. Harry, however, being wizard has other type of benefits. One of them he has named _Naquadah resonance_."

"It's incredible," Hermione nodded. "Harry can do things with magic I've never even heard of, because he can now sense it more clearly. How did he put it, he can feel the particles in magic?"

"Plus Harry got really damn smart afterwards. I want that," Ron nodded, grinning.

The Auror and the Chief Warlock stared at them for a moment, while the Healer looked a little put off, but curious despite herself. Egeria had to marvel their reaction – it was so unlike that of many other somewhat advanced human civilisations. Perhaps it was the fact that their lives were surrounded by so many strange creatures already, but none of them looked truly disgusted.

"I'm sorry," the Healer finally said. "I didn't know – I assumed… Intestinal parasites are common ailment with some wizards, it's mandatory to purge them immediately if there is a chance."

"Really?" Egeria asked, surprised. "I thought magic would fight against something like that."

"Some times yes, but not always – there are some breeds which thrive in magic, if they are not purged immediately after discovery, they might actually weaken the host's magic," the Healer answered with an awkward shrug, and then looked curious. "Can you do that?"

"No, Harry's magic accepts me, but it doesn't allow me to use it," Egeria answered. "It did heal me on Harry's request, however."

"On his _request_?"

"Yes."

Madam Longbottom and chief Bones shared a look, before sitting down. "I think you six… _seven_ need to start from the beginning," Augusta said, frowning. "Before any more wrong conclusions are drawn."

Egeria prodded at the sullen ball at the back of her head. _'Harry?'_ she asked. _'Did you hear what she asked? Are you even listening?'_

_'Yes, I am,'_ Harry answered, sighing and unwinding a little. _'I don't like this, but I suppose things could get ugly if we don't. And if we want to take Neville's parents with us, his grandmum deserves to know. But see if you can make them keep it to themselves. I don't want the whole wizarding world knowing.'_

_'Don't you want to tell them yourself?'_ Egeria asked.

_'Not particularly.'_

Egeria smiled a little at that, but decided to let her host sulk. "Alright," she said out loud, glancing at the others, who at first seemed surprised, and then a little relieved. "Where shall we begin?"

"With Tretonin," Hermione suggested. "In a way, that's what started it all." And as the others nodded in agreement, she began the tale.

The explanation took a bit more than just a cup of tea to sink in – the pot was filled twice before they were through, and towards the end Augusta brought in some firewhisky for herself and the chief of Auror Crops. But the time they were more or less done, it was getting dark outside, and candles had to be lit to light the room.

In the end, Egeria was surprised how well the two elder witches took the story. Though Egeria and the others had to gloss over a few things – like Goa'uld technology which for two pureblood witches would've made little sense – what caused them the biggest shock for the listeners was the history of Egeria's kind – the history of Earth's gods. It hadn't been that long ago – the way a wizard remembered it – when wizards had worshipped those gods themselves, in some parts they still did.

"Well, not all Earth's gods are Goa'ulds – almost all of them already existed in the myths here, before the Goa'uld came," Egeria tried to reassure them. "Like myself; I am not Egeria, the goddess of fountains and childbirth – I've merely taken liking to her name. Most of the Goa'uld merely took what they liked about the pantheon of human deities and… imposed as that god."

"I suppose that is a bit better than the concept that the Goa'uld created many of the myths and legends we still tell to our children," Augusta murmured.

"But despite the fact that you took the name of Egeria, you've never been worshipped?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Not as such – the one time I attempted to pose as the goddess Egeria, people assumed I was a water nymph," Egeria chuckled. "I admit, it worked better for me. Now days I wouldn't wish to try if my life depended on it. It would go against the very essence of Tok'ra. I keep the name because it holds fond memories for me."

"What I don't understand is why you want to back to this… Pangar so much," Janice said, shaking her head. "After what they did to you. In your place, I would want nothing to do with them."

"None of it was done maliciously – they had good intentions in mind and their motivations were sound," the Tok'ra queen said gently. "And they are kind, peaceful people. Their drive to correct the mistakes they had made, even to make amends… it is commendable. And part of the fault is mine, for the way I manipulated my young I in the end caused the flaw that turned Tretonin so lethal."

"But you've already made up for that, haven't you? With the antidote."

"Yes, but repairing a mistake does not actually improve a situation, only returns it to its original state," Egeria said, shaking her head. "A man once said to me, if you can change a situation, why only settle for the same, why not make it better? And I believe we can not only correct our mistakes, but make things better because of them for both of us. Tok'ra and Pangarians together." She shrugged her shoulders.

The elder women nodded thoughtfully, while the Healer frowned. "And your children are there," Augusta said, smiling faintly. "That's a motivation I can easily understand."

Egeria nodded, returning the smile.

"And it's her kids that could cure mum and dad," Neville added eagerly.

"Maybe. We cannot know that for certain before I learn more about the damage done to your parents," Egeria warned him.

"But if it's even remotely possible, then it's worth looking into, right?" he asked back, turning to his grandmother. "We got to at least try, right?"

"Absolutely," she agreed, frowning. "As it is, there has been no hope for their recuperation in years, every treatment has failed. At this point, I'm welcoming every possibility, even something as strange as this. But there are other issues to be handled before that."

"And it will take some years still, before my children mature enough to take hosts," Egeria added.

Augusta nodded. "So, for a while, let's concentrate a little closer to home. First order of business would be handling your return – and whether or not we will let anyone know."

"What? Excuse me, but why wouldn't we?" Hermione asked worriedly, and the two elder witched shared a look

"There are factors involved that are beyond our control – and if they work like Dumbledore thinks they do, keeping your return and, indeed, your survival a secret might work to our advantage," Amelia said, leaning forward a little. "Do you know why Voldemort lured Harry into Department of Mysteries that night?"

Egeria shared a look with the others and then frowned. She had thought that Voldemort had wanted Harry there so that he could kill him – but it did seem a bit extravagant, as surely the dark wizard could've lured him into an easier place.

"I thought it might have something to do with the Prophesy sphere we found – it had Harry's initials in it," Hermione said.

Amelia nodded. "There was a Prophesy spoken about Harry and Voldemort sixteen years ago, just little before Harry was born," she explained. "It said that Harry would be the one who could have the power to vanquish the dark lord. After your disappearance, the Prophesy was re-examined – and when Dumbledore came to office, it was eventually published. He never believed Harry was dead, and used the Prophesy as a proof. He said that Harry couldn't be dead because the Prophesy hadn't been played out."

"Turns out he was right, in a way," Augusta murmured and snorted. "What do you know."

"If Harry really is the only one who can vanquish Voldemort – and trust me when I say, we have tried to capture the bastard with little success – then it would be an advantage to our side, if Voldemort didn't know to expect it," Amelia finished.

"Wait, go back to the Prophesy," Ginny said, leaning forward. "What does it say, exactly?"

"Wait a moment, I have it here somewhere," Augusta said, turning to the pile of parchments littering the tea table, and starting to leaf through them. "I should have the article about it here somewhere…. Ah, here," she said, pulling out the article clipping. She handed it over to Egeria, while everyone else leaned forward to read. Even Harry, who had been only idly following the conversation, perked up.

After reading it trough, Egeria frowned. It was… quite vague. And even more open to interpretation. "This is real?" she asked finally. "People believe in this?"

"Unfortunately there is great power in prophesies. They tend to play out sooner or later, and ones like these that mention actual people by their titles and such, they tend to make noise when they do," Augusta said, with faintly annoyed look about her face. "Neville could've been the _one_ of this Prophesy, but Voldemort went after Harry instead, so it's him."

"And it means that Harry has to… either kill Voldemort or be killed by him?" Hermione asked. "I wonder if that's the reason why Harry wanted to return home so much."

"What do you mean?" Egeria asked, blinking while Harry scowled mentally.

"Well, it was kind of weird when you think about it. Harry was… pretty happy in Pangar, but he never even considered not returning to Earth. The whole thing about getting closure, you know," Hermione shrugged. "It does seem like a Harry-type of thing to do, but still, it was weird. You two could've stayed – I could've gotten us home. But…"

"Could a Prophesy do something like that – make people want to do something?" Ron asked worriedly.

"It might. They are powerful magic," Hermione said, and looked up to Egeria who was still frowning at the words.

"Power the Dark Lord knows not," the queen intoned. "I wonder."

"That would make sense, wouldn't it?" Amelia asked, raising her eyebrows. "No one on earth has heard of your kind. Not to mention about these… benefits Harry gets from you."

"Or it could just mean these zatnik thingies," Ginny suggested, pulling hers out. "I doubt Voldemort know about these either."

Egeria smiled faintly at that before straightening her back. _'What do you think?'_ she asked, nudging at Harry.

_'I think I'd welcome the chance to shoot Voldemort with a Zat'nik'tel couple of times,'_ Harry answered, mentally grinning. _'I think it might be best to keep my survival a secret in any case. It will make things so much easier when we head back to Pangar – this way I won't have to fight anyone about it.'_

_'What about Sirius? The Order? Or Dumbledore? Or the families of the others?'_

Harry didn't answer for a moment and then only shrugged mentally. _'What do the great ladies say?'_ he asked.

The queen nodded and glanced up. "If it is true that Harry is the only one who can kill Voldemort, then it makes sense to keep our survival a secret. It will give us the element of surprise, if nothing else – and on the long run it would be easier for us, when we head back home," she said. "However, neither of us would force the others under such secrecy," she added, glancing at Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Luna. "They have the right to return to their loved ones."

"Yeah, but if by returning we'd ruin our chances of getting rid of Voldemort…" Ginny trailed away, shaking her head

"I think your families are capable of keeping secrets – except perhaps for Xenophilius, but I think we could persuade him too," Augusta mused. "I don't see why they couldn't be told, as long as they keep the information to themselves."

"And Dumbledore?" Amelia asked, folding her arms.

"We will have to let him know, don't we?" Hermione asked. "He's led the fight against Voldemort for so long, we'll need his help, right?"

"Hmm," Augusta hummed, looking thoughtfully. "Not as such, no. The fight against Voldemort isn't Dumbledore's problem anymore – it Amelia's problem. As it should've been right from the beginning."

Amelia nodded. "And Dumbledore as he is now would only make things more difficult – he still doesn't really understand that he is what he is, a teacher and a politician. He is not a professional tactician and certainly not an Auror – he might have the power and skill for it, but he doesn't have the head, and he doesn't think in the right way," she shook her head, looking disgusted. "He still drops in by my office to make _suggestions_ about how I should do my job better."

"Why did you want him as a Minister then?" Ron asked, turning to Augusta.

"Amelia already said it. Because he is a teacher and a politician," she answered. "Of course, his reputation and fame was part of it – people know him and people trust those they knew. But after Fudge and especially after Scrimageour, we needed someone who could teach the people to think differently – and if Dumbledore had ever been good at anything, it's that. The fool of a man is just so afraid of misusing power that he's never really realised the potential he has."

"And with someone like Augusta giving him the occasional kick, he really does a brilliant job as a minister," Amelia agreed.

"But you think he shouldn't know about our survival?" Egeria asked.

"No. He would fall back to his old ways of thinking – he would hide you, hoard you away like some secret weapon and never really make any use of you. Or worse yet, he would reveal your existence to the people in some misguided notion of giving people hope, and that would be one opportunity we would never get to use," Amelia said thoughtfully. "I think it would be best that we at least tried to dealt with Voldemort before making that announcement."

"That works fine for Harry and I," Egeria nodded.

"Us too," Ron said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but how long would it take, how long would we have to keep on hiding?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Do you know where Voldemort is, or are you still trying to find him? And exactly how do you intend to use Harry anyway? Will Harry be going in with the Aurors, or…"

"Well, that is a bit of a problem, as we have no idea where the bastard is, but now that Harry is here, maybe we have a new chance," Amelia said. "How about we give it a month for now – month to find Voldemort and finish his terrorist group? If we can't manage it in that time, we will revise our plans."

Madam Longbottem nodded in agreement. "You can stay here for the duration – the mansion is well secured and there is certainly enough space. However, in the mean while we will also arrange so that you can see and talk with your families – the visits could easily happen here, it would be most secure option," Augusta decided. "And of course we will somehow make it possible for Egeria and Harry to take a look at Frank and Alicia."

"It sounds good," Egeria nodded slowly while Harry silently conceded and the others agreed as well. "If we are going to stay here, however, I'm going to need a different place to park though. I don't think the woods are safe enough."

"Park? You came here on a car?" Amelia asked with surprise.

"Well, in manner of speaking, yes," Egeria answered, smiling.

x

In the following day, after an evening spend enjoying actual food, baths and beds – the Pangarian variety, whilst very fine quality, had been just a little _off_ for the six Earthlings – they got ready to meet those who had thought them dead. Augusta had arranged a quick get-together, to which she had invited Ron's and Ginny's parents, Luna's father, Hermione's parents who would be brought in her personal Ministry issued car, and Sirius.

"It's a good thing that we have the tendency of meeting like this fairly often," the elderly Chief Warlock confined in Egeria, smiling faintly. "Otherwise this might seem a bit suspicious."

"You have done something like this before?" the queen of Tok'ra asked curiously.

"Molly and I started it soon after the kids vanished," Augusta said, nodding at her grandson and the others, who were trying not to look as exited as they no doubt felt about the upcoming meeting. "We called in Xenophilius, Luna's father, and Hermione's parents to discuss the disappearance and so called death, trying to figure out how it could've happened or if it made sense at all. Sirius wasn't invited, of course, not back then, but as we kept on meeting once or twice a month, he eventually joined us after he was cleared."

Egeria nodded thoughtfully, wondering what it must've been like for those people – parents – who shared such an event. Though human parenthood and symbiote parenthood differed greatly – Egeria loved all her children equally but not really individually, there was simply too many of them for that – she could still sympathise. Even if her love as a mother was different, she too had felt the loss Augusta and the others had.

"It'll be a chaos when they all get here, I bet," the chief warlock mused, harrumphing. "Would probably be better if I had asked them to come here alone one at a time and not summoned them all at once, but it seems… simpler this way."

"Kinder too," the Tok'ra said. "This way no one has to wait longer than the others do."

"Hmm," the old witch hummed, nodding. "Is Mr. Potter as excited as the others?" she asked, throwing a sideways glance at her. She seemed amused. "Is that why you're in control? To keep some manner of decorum?"

"No, Harry is trying to come up with something to say to Sirius," Egeria smiled. "We are excited, but not like them. Yes," she nodded, when the old woman raised her eyebrows. "I am anticipating seeing Sirius as well – Harry and I feel as one, so Sirius feels like my godfather as well. But the flip side of it is that Harry has gained something of mine as well – so we do not get… overwhelmed by the emotion. I'm afraid I'm too old to get so energetic."

"How old are you, exactly?" Augusta asked curiously. "Obviously older than Mr. Potter was before – much more intelligent and mature as well. And if you don't mind me saying, you're doing the lad a great favour there."

Egeria grinned a little at that. "I know," she agreed, and then ignored the affronted feeling Harry sent at her. "I was born almost three thousand years ago – but almost two thousand of those years I've remained in stasis, with my aging considerably slowed – so determining my precise age is impossible. I am nearing the end of my natural life span in any case – if Harry had not became my host, I would have died of old age in few years."

"Magic makes such a difference with your kind?" Augusta asked, looking pleased and even lifting her chin a little.

"With me it did – most of that is thanks to Harry. I feel like symbiote of barely half a millennia old now," Egeria nodded. "Harry will still most likely prove out to be my last host – I doubt have the ability to take another anymore."

Augusta nodded, looking at her. "Would you like to?"

"No, not really," the queen shook her head and smiled gently. "Even if I could, I wouldn't have the heart to part with Harry – no host after him would compare. It is hard to put into words, but being inside Harry feels… right in way no host before has felt. I guess human term for it would be that Harry is my… soul mate."

"Hmm. And it would be like that for every witch and wizard who takes in a Tok'ra?" Augusta asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know. I hope so for their sakes. The experience has been incredible – I wish all my children could have the chance to share it."

"And what does Mr. Potter think?" the witch asked, giving her a look. Egeria smiled, not at all strained despite the feel of irritation spiking through Harry's nearly frantic thoughts about Sirius. Despite everything, Augusta and chief Bones couldn't help but have their reservations – many many reservations – but Egeria didn't mind. It was more or less normal, coming from people of a civilisation with nothing like a Tok'ra bond in it.

"I don't presume to talk for my host," Egeria answered, bowing her head. "I'm sure Harry will be more than happy to discuss all the implications and sensations of a blending with you later, when he is not so distracted."

"I bet it will have to wait for a while," Augusta said with a snort, and then turned her attention to the room, and to the teenage magicians there, waiting eagerly to hear the first sounds of their families arriving. "It will be one proper ruckus, once everyone gets here."

"Indeed," Egeria agreed, and like Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna, couldn't help but perk up a little when they heard a noise somewhere in the house. When no appearances followed, she forced herself to relax a little, clasping her hands together to keep herself from twiddling her fingers.

Well, maybe she could get a little emotional, but no one needed to know that.

The discussion was eventually halted, as the fireplace across the room flared in brilliant green, and then from gust of flames a person stepped out. Egeria's fingers twitched a little and her mind raced from _Sirius_ to '_oh god, he thinks we're dead' _which was shared by Harry to and wishing she had the chance to look at whatever information there was available of the Floo network – the science behind it must be fascinating. Then she was rather rudely pushed aside by Harry, who then proceeded to freeze, forgetting everything he had been planning to say.

"So, where's the fire Augusta?" Sirius asked, glancing around the room, and then freezing too to stare at Harry beside the Chief Warlock.

Egeria, half overcame by Harry's racing emotions – which, despite her influence over him, were still incredibly _powerful_ – was suddenly aware of the fact that she had never actually had a reunion. Not like this – she had never left and then again met someone she actually wanted to meet. Closest she had ever came to that emotion were the old yearning to see Janus again, and the now ever present pain in the back of her mind, the fear for her older children, the uncertainty of their wellbeing, the longing to see them again. Yet, none of those desires had been satisfied, there had been no meeting like this, so she didn't know how to handle this.

Harry didn't seem to know either – even if he had done it before. But he was different now, not really even human anymore, and though he accepted Egeria with open heart and loved her, he feared that others wouldn't, that others couldn't. That Sirius would find it disgusting, like Healer Janice had at first.

Egeria was just about to send her reassurances and comfort to him, when Augusta nudged at Harry's side. "Cat got your tongue, Mr. Potter?" she asked sharply, and the silence that had fallen when Sirius had stopped staring was suddenly broken.

Egeria was fairly certain that had Harry not been a Tok'ra now, Sirius would've broken his ribs with his hug. She was also fairly certain that Ron would not let neither of them live down the squeal Harry let out when Sirius hoisted him half a feet into the air. But she didn't care, as Harry babbled hellos and apologies and explanations in messy order into Sirius's shoulder, not really getting any of his scattered messages through. The feeling of relief and joy shared between her and her host was too much for either of them to mind the embarrassment, though.

That was about the last moment coherence they had for the next following hour. Not much after Harry and Sirius stepped back from each other, to try and question and explain, each word overlapping each other too badly for understanding, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley stepped through the Floo as well – and were very nearly tackled back into it by their children. Egeria wasn't sure where or when Luna's father appeared – one moment she was sitting alone and the next she was being hoisted up by a man with candyfloss hair and wide eyes, and booming laughter that was almost contagious. Not much after Hermione cried "Mum, dad!" in the background, and after that the noise of reunion and happiness was turning the very air heavier.

Despite trying to keep track of what was being said, Egeria wasn't in the end quite certain who ended up explaining the situation or how it was explained. She was somewhat sure that it was Augusta, who seemed to be the only one still in complete control of her emotions after everything had dissolved into disbelieving laughter and tears and hugs – with each lost child getting hug from each parent regardless of whether or not they had even _met_ before. It was hard to say for certain, though, since everyone seemed to have their two cents to add, Harry included.

In the end, though, a silence fell, contemplative and oddly cosy as Harry leaned onto Sirius's side, not minding the arm around his shoulders despite being sixteen and not a child anymore. "I've heard lot of theories," Sirius said thoughtfully. "But another world kind of tops all of them."

"There were theories? What sort?" Hermione asked, sitting between her parents, Helen and Lear Granger.

"Oh, there were aplenty of them," Mr. Weasley snorted, while Mrs. Weasley checked her children over to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. "The most popular one was that you had ran away to train for the war – though that was only in the beginning, when we still thought there would be a war. Before Ministry got a, well, more competent head."

"Mum, I'm fine, stop _groping_ me," Ginny whined, trying to wring herself away from her mother, though the effort was half-hearted at best.

"Then there was the one where you were kidnapped by Voldemort, but the fact that Voldemort was a bit too late in trying to boast about killed that rumour," Sirius mused.

"He tried to?" Ron asked, fascinated.

"Oh yes. When Fudge fell and Scrimageour was named the Minister, Voldemort tried to do all he could to gain more support, more popularity. He really tried to take the credit of your disappearance – tried to offer some proof too – but by that time the records from the Department of Mysteries had been released," Augusta nodded. "Couple of articles in the Daily Prophet did a quick work of that campaign."

"That's nice," Ron muttered from under Mr. Weasley's arm, throwing a look at others. "Can you imagine what You-Know-Who could've done, if people had thought he was holding Harry as hostage?"

"That was probably his goal," Mr. Weasley nodded, with a complex look about his face. "Though, at a time, the idea of him having you rather than you being… well, there were days…"

"But you're not dead!" Xenophilius, who had his daughter sitting in his lap as if she was ten years younger, said joyfully. "And you've gone through great deal of adventures! The people will be delighted to know."

"The people will not find out, however," Augusta said sharply, cutting through the joyful haze and making everyone fall silent. She eyed the adults harshly for a moment, before turning to look at Harry.

"We won't be _coming back to life_," Harry said, glancing at his friends who nodded, Ginny managing to do so just barely from beneath Mrs. Weasley's arms. Egeria, happy to sit back for this, agreed as well, though she knew it wouldn't be that easy, not with these people. Not after the bout of elation they had just had. "Madam Longbottom has told us about the Prophesy, about Voldemort – plus with all this…" Harry continued while motioning at them all. "I don't even want to think about how the wizarding public would react."

"But Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley started. "You're back, and the ministry has pushed Voldemort into a corner long time ago. Dumbledore is making great changes, and Chief Bones," she nodded to the head of Auror Corps, "Has already arrested more than half of Voldemort's forces."

"Cornered beast is the most dangerous kind of beast," Sirius said quietly.

"Yes," Harry and Egeria agreed, though Harry was the only one who spoke. "If the magic of a Prophesy is as strong as people seem to believe, then I must face the duty it's laid before me eventually. And I would rather do it on my terms, than on Voldemort's. Voldemort thinks I'm dead, so he won't expect me – but if we, if any of us goes out now, announcing his or her survival to the world, then I lose that advantage immediately."

"The Prophesy?" Hermione's mother Helen asked with some disbelief. "You mean that garbage you showed us printed on one of your papers? You can't be telling us that it is actually real."

Harry shrugged, while Hermione tuned under the combined hold of her parents, to face her mother. "I've studied these things," she said. "There are plenty of fake prophesies, but the ones that are real, are _real_. They're especially powerful if they're acknowledged and if someone tries to knowingly act against them – and Voldemort tried to, when he tried to kill Harry as a baby."

"There is no disputing a Prophesy once it's been unearthed," Mr. Weasley agreed. "If Harry had really died that night almost a year ago, it wouldn't be an issue anymore. But he didn't – and when the Prophesy was printed in the papers, it only made it stronger."

"Whichever way it is," Harry interjected, with Egeria's nudging – this wasn't the time to get into argument about whether prophesies were real or not. It didn't really matter when there was more to motivate them to act than just the prediction. "For now it's best to just assume the worse and prepare for it. Besides, I would rather see Voldemort properly defeated, than just leave him to do whatever he pleases."

"So you want to do, what? Kill him yourself?" Hermione's father, Lear, asked with a frown, making everyone turn to look at Harry with troubled expressions.

"If it comes down to it," Harry agreed, while Egeria curled around him in full support. Neither of them liked it much, but… "I don't want to kill anyone, but I'll do it – hell, I'll do it happily – if it means Voldemort will be done for good."

There was a moment of silence, before Chief Bones cleared her throat. "Regardless of the fact that we've managed to reduce Voldemort to the slot he rightfully occupies, rather than the one he assumed he has, he is still a dangerous individual," she said darkly. "He might not be a dark lord, but he is still very much a dark wizard – and skilled one at that. Mr. Potter is right about needing the element of surprise."

"And at this point it's probably better people continue to assume Harry is dead," Luna said thoughtfully, leaning her cheek to her father's candy-floss hair. "Voldemort would want to kill him."

"Yeah, I'd rather not end up as the target of assassination attempts just yet," Harry agreed, Egeria snorting in the background at the notion.

"Well, I think that's decided then," Sirius nodded, squeezing Harry's shoulders and looking at the rest challengingly. "Unless anyone has objections, I say we keep this to ourselves."

"But what about your brothers?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking at Ginny and Ron.

The two hesitated, glancing at Harry, and then steeling themselves. "Well, to quote Harry, they can suck it up," Ginny said. "This is more important."

"Yeah. And they'll understand, unless Fred and George have invented a Stupidity Solution while we were gone," Ron agreed.

"I think they've done more than that," Mrs. Weasley muttered with an exasperated look about her face, and then sighed. "Very well," she then said, pressing a kiss first to Ginny's hair, then to Ron's temple. "We will keep you hidden. I suppose this manor is secure enough? I would suggest the Burrow, but I'm afraid it has a bit too much traffic."

"Same with the Grimmauld Place," Sirius mused and then frowned. "We might want to let some people know, though," he added, glancing at Augusta and Chief Bones. "Some… proper fighters, I mean."

"Your Order of Phoenix you mean," Augusta answered darkly. "Absolutely not. We've already decided between us and Mr. Potter that Dumbledore will not be informed."

"What? Why not?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"How do you expect he would react?" the Chief Warlock of Wizengamot said sharply and shook her head. "He'd most likely announce Mr. Potter's existence to the world right away, and that would be that. No. I will not have it, not now."

"I agree," Sirius said thoughtfully. "If Dumbledore wouldn't announce it, then he would probably lock Harry and the others up for their own good. He did it with me." A dark look crossed over his face before he shook his head. "There are some people however whom we could use in this. Shacklebolt for one, Moody maybe, also Remus Lupin… Nymphadora Tonks too maybe…"

The head of Auror Corps gave him a slightly twisted smile. "All of whom are part of the Order of Phoenix, as it so happens." She smirked at Sirius's affronted look. "I have my sources too, Mr. Black, and I'm not as blind to what my Aurors do behind my back as you might think."

"That being as it is, Mr. Black is correct," Augusta cut in, glancing at Harry. "As… important as you are to this cause, Mr. Potter, you are only one individual – and not enough to take on Voldemort's forces, even if they are diminished now."

"He has us," Ginny cut in sharply. "We'll fight too."

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley objected.

"Of course we will," Ron said, ignoring their mother. "But Madam Longbottom is right, even with us there are only so many of us. How big a force does Voldemort still have?"

Egeria was also curious to know, and as Harry turned to look at Madam Longbottom and Chief Bones, she wondered. With her there, Harry was stronger, faster, more intelligent and in control of his magic in a manner, that eve Voldemort lacked. But they were only one and magic could do some terrible things. And Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville and Luna were still so young – and none of them had the advantages Harry did.

"We know for sure that he had about twenty people still working under him. The problem is, we're unsure about the number of dementors or other dark creatures he might've persuaded to his cause," Amelia Bones said darkly. "And we still don't know how he controls the damned things – dementors that is. So far we've captured every dementor we've encountered, but…" she shook her head.

"So, either way, Mr. Potter will need a proper squad to back him up," Augusta murmured, running a hand over her chin. "I think that will be our next order of business, compiling a list of trustworthy Aurors – and Order of Phoenix members – who can form this squad."

"Wait. Are you saying that Harry will be the one _leading it_?" Sirius asked with some disbelief.

"Naturally he will be," Augusta said, throwing a glance towards Harry which Egeria felt was more directed at her than him. "From here on it will be greatly his fight, after all. That isn't to say we won't be advising of guiding him, but… I think for now it is best to leave the task to the person it was appointed to. _He_ is the Chosen One of the Prophesy after all. Not any of us."

Harry shifted a bit while everyone stared at him. "If it's up to me, I want Ron and Hermione with me," he said, making Egeria first worry and then understand. "Neville, Ginny and Luna too if they want it. Not to fight," he added, when Mrs. Weasley and Hermione's parents looked like they were about to object, loudly. "I just want them in on this, all the way. No sending them away to Grimmauld place or some secret hide out for their safety." He hesitated. "That is, of course, if they want to."

"We're in," Hermione said, nodding.

"Of course we're in," Neville agreed, making his grandmother give him an approving glance.

"This is preposterous," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to Ginny. "You're children! You at least –"

The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment, before frowning. "Sorry mum," Ginny said, straightening her back a bit. "But you too are going to have to suck it up too. If the others will be fighting, so will I, and Merlin help you if you try and stop me."

While Mrs. Weasley stared at her, looking speechless for a moment, Luna shared a look with her father that seemed to convey a whole argument between them. Xenophilius lost the fight with a sigh, and pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead. Hermione's parents looked like they were about to object only for a moment before looking at their daughter and just sighing heavily.

Harry smiled at them, while squirming with guilt inside. _'Do I have the right to do this?'_ he asked indecisively, thousand worst case scenarios playing in his head, of his friends falling, getting injured, dying, never getting to say goodbyes… and so soon after coming home too.

_'It's not about your right to do anything,'_ Egeria answered gently, giving him a mental push. _'It is their right to choose, whether it be for good or bad. And you are only doing right by them, by expressing that you need them. Holding that back, you would only be lying to them.'_

Harry sighed. _'I probably could do it without them,'_ he mused. _'But not as well.'_

_'No. Not as well,'_ Egeria agreed. She was no general, despite the fights she had fought. She wasn't even a fighter. Harry, on other hand, was – fighter and general both. Once upon a time, he might've braved a war alone, but he knew better now – he knew his own flaws and his strengths, and he knew how well his friends could support those aspects of him. Ron with his strategic mind, Hermione with her encyclopaedic knowledge about magic, something even Egeria didn't have…

They would need those aspects. Not to mention about what Neville, Ginny and Luna could bring to the table.

_'They'll make great Tok'ra,'_ Egeria said, already feeling so proud of them.

_'Let's try and keep them alive long enough for that,'_ Harry sighed, and then turned his eyes to Sirius who was giving him a puzzled look. Harry sighed again, though this time only mentally. He hadn't yet said a word about Egeria – only August and Amelia knew so far.

_'Time to face the music,'_ Harry thought. "Sirius," he said out loud. "If you wouldn't mind, could we have a talk in private? There's something I need to tell you."

x

Long time no update, but what the hell. I got nostalgic. Also, I decided on a bit different pairing - the original plan was a sort of threesome/foursome thingie with Harry/Egeria + character from SG1 and character from SGA, because I sort of liked the idea of both Harry and Egeria having different lovers. But I decided that would both take too long and be unnecessarily complicated, so it's just going to be Harry/Egeria x character from SGA. Not that it matters at this point but it will. Eventually.

Also this is slash with hint of sort-of!mpreg. In case you didn't notice. AND I CHOSE THE PAIRING SINCE BEFORE STARTING THIS FIC, I AM NOT OPEN FOR SUGGESTIONS.

My apologies for possible grammar errors.


	5. Fifth part

Warnings; Eventually slash and sort of Mpreg. Not yet in this part, though. Spoilers all around. Fail medicine. Did I mention the slash part yet?

**Queen Mother**

**Fifth part**

Sirius wasn't saying anything – he hadn't, in fact, said as much as a word after the initial jokes to ease the atmosphere. After Harry had begun to explain, telling him about the Tretonin, about Egeria's imprisonment, about the children, about the bonding, Sirius had fallen quiet, and stayed so until Harry's story petered out, leaving them in what turned into rather tense quiet in Madam Longbottom's private study.

Egeria was trying not to let it get to her, but Harry was near to panicking – and no wonder. The story of another world people could buy easily, they both knew that, because there was some physical and visual proof – they were alive and the explanation made as much sense as anything else. Maybe it didn't make sense to wizards as far as the science of it went, and yes, they had glossed over the _how_ part of how they had ended up in Pangar and how they had gotten back, but still. Magic made some very wonderful and very bizarre things happen, so wizards were somewhat disposed to believe in the impossible.

But wizards also had some extreme prejudices towards possession. And even if what Egeria and Harry had wasn't that, was nothing like it, the idea of two people in one body wasn't something wizards were familiar with. Not as far as Harry knew anyway, and considering the way people tended to react to things like _Imperius_ and such…

And Sirius was just _staring_ at them, silent and expressionless from the armchair where he had collapsed half way through the explanation.

"Would you please say something?" Harry finally asked almost desperately, while Egeria tried to wrap her mind around his, trying to soothe him from his worries and fears and the horrible possibility that Sirius wouldn't accept them, that he would be disgusted. Harry had never had much of a family – Sirius was the closest thing he had to a father. If he didn't… if he couldn't accept…

"Just let me wrap my head around this," the former convict answered, waving his hand a bit, still staring. "I get what you're saying, but you got to admit, it's a lot to take in."

"Well, yeah, I guess," Harry muttered, leaning back, still uneasy. It had been hard to take for the others too, Hermione and Ginny had argued with him until the bonding, Ron had accepted that he'd do whatever he want to but hadn't really agreed with it – even Neville had been uneasy until the end. Only one who had been perfectly accepting was Luna, and honestly that said more about Luna, than about the Tok'ra bonding.

Harry didn't and never would regret any of it, Egeria knew as much. But this meant lot to him.

"Just… no matter what you think, it won't change anything. She's here and she's here to stay," Harry said finally, tapping his temple. "That will not change for as long as I have anything to say to it."

That, much to their relief, made Sirius smile a bit. "Yeah, I got that," he said and finally relaxed a bit, sighing. "I don't get it, I won't pretend I do. But you're happy like this?"

"Yeah," Harry said, the word coming out in a rush of exhaled air. "I've never been so content with myself. I didn't even realise how unhappy I was before, but now…" he shrugged, not able to explain, no more than Egeria could explain what they had, what they were. Soulmate came close, but nowhere near close enough.

"Okay," Sirius nodded, like making a decision, and then snapped his eyes up again. "Let me talk to her."

"Uh. Okay, of course," Harry answered and then, feeling a bit puzzled and anxious once more, bowed his head, stepping aside. Almost tentative Egeria took control of the body, shifting a bit where she sat – Harry had a weird way of sitting crooked, leaning to the left.

"Um. Hello," the Tok'ra said uneasily, more nervous than she thought she ever had been before.

"Egeria, huh?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows – probably more at the distorted voice, than at the words.

"Yes. That is the name I go by," she admitted, trying not to wring her hands – Liviana had used to do it, when ever she had been nervous. Egeria had no idea she had picked that habit too, never had had any reason to notice. "I appreciate that this must be very confusing for you, but… I do hope that you will not think any less of Harry for this. Your good opinion means much to him."

Even while Harry winced inside her mind, Sirius grinned suddenly, as if Egeria had said something funny – or something just _right_. "Okay, okay. I don't think any less of the kid – this is Harry through and through," the man said, motioning at her and then leaning forward, elbows at his knees. "Harry said you know everything he does, so you know what he did for me, right?"

"With the time turner, yes, though I do think Hermione helped quite a bit," Egeria admitted, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, well, I doubt Hermione would've done it at all, if it wasn't for Harry," Sirius answered, shaking his head. "Just after meeting me, and hearing a story which might've not been a true at all for all he knew, the kid goes back in time, saving a guy he spent the last year or so thinking was his parent's betrayer and a mass murderer, trusting in the words of that said supposed betrayer and a teacher who was just revealed to be a werewolf. After that, I wouldn't be surprised to find Harry trying to save a Death Eater. That he'd do something like this for someone like you? Not that shocking."

"You might have a point in that," Egeria said, letting out a small, awkward laugh despite herself.

"If Harry trusts you, he's probably got a damned good reason. I don't mind that, honestly. It's this Goa'uld stuff and going-back-bit that bother me," Sirius said then, his grin fading into a more serious expression. "Because… why? The war here isn't as bad as it could be – we have Voldemort cornered, his people mostly imprisoned. When all this is over, Harry could have a good life, the sort of life he deserves. Why go back, especially if it's to another potential war?"

"Ah, yes. That is partially my fault," Egeria admitted, while Harry sputtered outraged denials at her, saying that it wasn't just her, he wanted to go too, he had wanted to _stay_. "Symbiosis between a Tok'ra and a host is two way. I got Harry's memories, his ideals, his wishes and believes and convictions. And he got mine. This war here is mine as it is his, and his desire to see Voldemort defeated is mine. But in the same time, all that is mine is also his now."

Sighing, she shook her head. "The galaxy out there is _very_ vast. And since the last time I had a look at it, it was also very much in trouble. Goa'uld ruled it then and unless things have radically changed – unless another race has risen up to fight them and I doubt it very much – they rule it still. And they are not kind rulers, they never have been. Humans are their hosts, theirs slaves, their play things and their cannon fodder; millions of them were enslaved the last I looked and millions more might very well be enslaved now."

While the dark haired man eyed her, Egeria smiled sadly. "I was part of the people responsible for it – I was born a Goa'uld and I did… terrible things, feeling only entitlement due to my birth," she admitted. "And I have the racial memories of those who came before me, and I know of more horrible deeds done over countless centuries. Knowing all this I cannot, I will not, stand down."

"Humans seem pretty free of slavery from where I'm looking at them," Sirius answered, thoughtfully.

"That is because Earth is the Seeder planet. All humans out there in the galaxy have their roots here – thousands of years ago, Goa'uld took people from here, and transported them to other planets. It was decided back then that overall, Earth would be left in peace because it is the origin of humans – as a back up plan. In case all humans out there died out, Earth would still be there, with its people, ready to serve as a Seeder for new slaves and hosts," Egeria answered with disgust. "It's most likely why it hasn't seen any Goa'uld traffic in so long – it hasn't been needed but it is still protected, to a point, by it's usefulness."

"Ah," the wizard answered, leaning back again, thinking about it. "And you want to do what, free the galaxy?"

"Oh, if I could do that, I would. But I'm afraid for now my dreams have to be a bit more moderate," Egeria admitted, sighing and then wincing a bit when Harry objected inside her. "Our dreams," she amended, touching her chest and frowning. "First and foremost Harry and I wish to see Voldemort defeated, and the Magical World free from whatever evil he might cause. Then we wish to see the damage done to Pangar by Tretonin repaired fully. After that…" it was a myriad of wishes, all mingled together. To see their children grow and prosper, to see more come to existence. To see Pangar and Tok'ra both prosper, together if at all possible. And then…

Then they'd do everything they could to fight. If the war was out there – if Goa'uld remained, both in existence and in evil, they would fight.

Though if it wouldn't be too much to ask for, she would wish to see if any of her older children survived.

"If the fight is there waiting for us, we will fight," Egeria said finally. "We will fight it to our dying breath."

"Why?" Sirius demanded. "I get why Harry would, that's what Harry does, but why you? You're not human."

"No. But I… respect humanity," Egeria answered. "And I abhor the Goa'uld, I abhor slavery, and all the horrible atrocities they've committed. The galaxy should be free and I loathe the fact that it might not be, that it most likely isn't."

"Hm. Well, a galaxy and galactic power struggles are a bit too big for me to grasp – but…" Sirius shrugged and then stood up. "If that's what Harry wants to do, then okay. I can get behind his wishes."

"Sirius?" Egeria asked, confused – because that didn't sound like just acceptance, that sounded like more. "What are you – what do you –"

"If Harry's going back – if you're going back – you don't think I'd just let you go alone?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Neville are coming," Egeria said slowly, while Harry held his mental breath inside her, waiting as she was waiting.

"And so am I," Sirius said determinately and then grimaced. "Can't say that it doesn't seem like better prospect than staying here, after… after everything," he added and then shook his head. "First things first though. Voldemort and all that."

"Yes," Egeria agreed faintly and stood up. "You… you would really… come?" she asked, just to be sure.

"You're my godson – or, well…" Sirius gave her a look, looking Harry's body up and down. "Goddaughter maybe? Merlin that's so weird. But you're _Harry_ too, and Harry's my godson and I already failed him _twice_. I damn well won't let him, or you, hare off alone again."

Egeria swallowed, not really sure how to take that. No one had ever – well, before Harry that was – just thrown themselves to her aid like that. Janus had believed in her, even helped her to a point, but Janus had _left_. And yet Sirius was not just offering, but demanding to join her, and Harry?

_'Step aside for a moment, Egeria,'_ Harry nudged at her gently and with another swallow she did, letting Harry back into control. The moment Harry had it, he threw his arms around Sirius, mumbling an awkward thanks to his shoulder, holding tight.

"There, there, kiddo," Sirius answered, patting his back awkwardly. "You didn't really think I'd just turn my back? I'm hurt, I think."

"We're… sort of operating blind here," Harry admitted with an awkward sniffle. "Egeria's never had to worry about the opinions about her host's loved ones, you know."

"Well, you don't have to worry about mine," Sirius said and then pushed him back a bit, to look at his face. "If this is what you want, then this is what you get, and I'm going to back you up every step of the way. Alright?"

With blurry eyes Harry nodded while Egeria basked in the choked up feeling of most intense happiness she had ever experienced. It was almost painful and all the more beautiful because of it.

"So. Who else knows about this? The kids, of course, but anyone else?"

"The great ladies – Madam Longbottom and Chief Bones, that is. Also Neville's cousin, she did a medical exam on me," Harry admitted. "We decided to keep it mostly quiet though because. Well. It might be a bit weird, for wizards, and that's a can of worms we don't want to play around with while there's all this other stuff going on."

"Yeah, probably better not to. Molly would have a field day, not to mention about Dumbledore and the rest of the Order," Sirius admitted, and they sat down again. "I can see now why Augusta wants you to run the squad, though. That thing about the resonance, how good is it?"

"Really good. I haven't gotten that many chances to test it, but all my spells are lot more powerful now. Well, not powerful, more like… they're better, better quality somehow. It feels like they're more _dense_ now," Harry admitted. "And I can control them lot better than I could before."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "And the healing this is obviously pretty thorough, since you don't seem to be missing your glasses too much," he added, looking at Harry's face thoughtfully. "The scar's there though."

"Yeah, and it probably won't go anywhere," Harry agreed with an uneasy shrug. They hadn't told anyone about the… thing in the back of their head, the bit of Voldemort they hadn't been able to remove. It was somehow connected to the scar. "Egeria can heal pretty much any non-lethal injury I get, but any scars I got before her…"

The elder wizard hummed. "That's handy. Still, you will need all the backing you can get," he said with determination.

"Yeah. And I need to study a bit. The resonance is all good and well, and yeah the healing bit is useful, but I could do with more spells in my repertoire – and Egeria and I really want to study the basics of magic, that would probably go a long way helping me with this whole thing," Harry admitted and then grinned. "And I want to see how quick study I am now. I can piggyback on Egeria's smarts a lot, so it'll be interesting to see how far that goes."

The elder wizard nodded thoughtfully. "The, heh, Great Ladies can probably help you more with that than I can," he said and then grinned. "I just realised I'm going to become a spy. This is pretty cool."

"A spy?" Harry asked, curious.

"We won't be telling any of this to Order, but the Order still has the best resources when it comes to keeping tabs on Voldemort. We still got Snape, for all the good it does us," Sirius answered. "And as it happens, my house is still the Headquarters. So I'll get to be your eyes and ears in the Order meetings. The moment they know anything new, so will you."

"Sweet," Harry answered, and they grinned in unison.

x

After a day spent in tangle of reunion and plans, Harry, Egeria and the others were left more or less alone at the mansion again. This time the sensation of waiting was worse, however, because of the plans that had been made. Sirius and the Weasleys were already considering the most effective means of getting information from the Order to what was now called the Longbottom Group, while Hermione's parents were going to close their practices momentarily so that they could join their daughter at the mansion. Who knew what Xenophilius Lovegood had planned, but Augusta had managed to wrangle a promise not to publish anything.

"We've got the ball rolling now. We'll spent few days evaluating people both in the Order and in the Auror Corps, to see who we will let into the know," Augusta explained later, after everyone had left and it was just them in the Mansion. "Those we will _invite_ will be sworn to secrecy, of course, and that might take a couple of days. In the mean while, it's best you all study," she added. "If you're going to fight, I want to see you able. Battle spells, protective spells, Defence Against the Dark Arts until your ears bleed. You got that?"

"Yes, ma'am," they answered, more eager than chastised or worried. Months on end with very little magic had probably left all of them hungry for more – Egeria certainly knew how eager Harry was to add to his knowledge. Though the concept of Naquadah Resonance probably was a factor there, both for Harry who already had it, and for the others who were looking forward to having it.

"There should be more than enough books on the subject in the library, but I'm willing to buy anything you need, of course," Augusta continued. "Tomorrow I will reinforce the basement, and you can all practice there. However, considering everything you will need more than battle spells. Because of that I've had Algernon - Neville's uncle – go and get us some old Daily Prophets. I of course have all the major articles saved, but knowledge over more general events might come in handy. If nothing else you shouldn't be mistaken about something just because it happened to get changed while you were away."

"That's great, I was hoping I'd get to see some old papers," Hermione said.

"I would like to look through your articles, however, if possible," Egeria added. The sooner they knew about Voldemort's possible movements, past and present, the better.

"Of course," Augusta nodded. "I'll organise them for you after dinner, you can look at them later."

"Okay, this is all good and well, but what about mum and dad?" Neville asked, looking between Augusta and Harry. "I guess it's a bit selfish and all, but I want to know as soon as possible if they can be cured. Though I guess… considering everything, Harry can't exactly go to St. Mungos to check them out…"

Augusta smiled at that. "I've already begun the process of having Frank and Alive released from the hospital and into Janice's care," she said. "I'll see to that all the proper equipment is prepared, so that they can be housed here. That way Harry and Egeria can examine them in peace."

"Won't people find that suspicious?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.

"Possibly, but I can always state that I was worried about them, that their location did not seem safe to me, that someone might've used them against me politically," Augusta answered. "Or perhaps that there had been threats and I deemed it safer for both my son and his wife, as well as for St. Mungos, that they were moved to more secure location."

"Ah," Ginny answered with a thoughtful nod.

"So rest up tonight. Tomorrow, we all will get to work," Augusta added. "Tomorrow, we will start organising the end of this blasted mess, one way or the other."

With that said, Augusta left them alone in the sitting room, saying that she had some Wizengamot papers to go through. With only those who had been to Pangar present, quiet fell for a moment while they all digested the day's events.

"All in all," Ginny said after a while, "things are not going the way I expected."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Harry asked, shifting where he sat.

"It could be worse," the redhead girl admitted.

"It's all kind of wicked when you think about it. Here we are, hidden from the rest of the world, plotting you-know-who's demise," Ron grinned. "And it could be a whole lot worse too, couldn't it? I mean I was afraid that the war would be lost by now, and the Order would've fallen and it would be just us against you-know-who and that would've sucked, a lot."

There were some nods of agreement before Hermione chuckled softly. "I can't believe how active my parent's have been in the magical world," she said, shaking her head. "They've always been curious, sure, but I figured they were content leaving magic be where it is. But now… You know what they said?" she looked up at them. "They found out that wizards don't have dental care. They've actually been wondering if there was a way for them to expand the clinic so that they could take in magical customers too – just so that they could keep in contact with magic."

"Wizarding dentist. Sounds terrifying," Harry grinned, while the rest gave them confused looks. Shaking his head, he looked at the others seriously. "Overall though, this war thing… while it's not as bad as we thought, it's still serious. Are you guys sure you want to take part in it?"

_'Oh, Harry,'_ Egeria sighed inside him, shaking her mental head. He wouldn't have been himself if he hadn't worried so much, true, and she loved him for it. But sometimes he worried when he should've trusted.

"We're sure," Luna answered from where she was reading a copy of the Quibbler – upside down and slightly sideways.

"It's our war too," Neville said quietly, frowning. "We've got our stake in it too – we're not doing it for you, you know."

Harry frowned a bit at that, while Egeria chuckled. "Huh?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange is still out there," Neville said, frowning. "She wasn't captured at the Malfoy Manor raid. And even if there might be a chance that my parents can be cured, they were still tortured, and I still… they deserve payback."

"We've lost people too. Granted I can't remember then, but our uncles were killed in the last war," Ron added, scowling. "Few of our cousins too."

"And I have a stake at this war just because I'm what I am. A muggleborn," Hermione added, giving Harry a long look. "So yes, Harry, we're sure we want to take part in this. Especially if we get to be part of ending it."

Swallowing and feeling more than a little awkward, Harry nodded. _'What was it that Luna said?'_ Egeria asked idly inside him. _'Harry Potter brand of arrogance. "I personally must save everyone," wasn't it?'_

_'Oh, shut it,'_ Harry answered, but with a smile.

"Of course it won't be as easy as that," Hermione continued. "Madam Longbottom is right. We need to study and train and prepare if we want to fight. We had a good start last year, with the DA, but I doubt it will be enough. We need to… make sure we're ready for everything."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "If we're going to fight, let's fight to win."

There were nods all around, while Hermione stood up. "I'm going to have look at the library, if that's okay," she said, glancing at Neville who nodded. "I'll make a list of things we ought to take look at and learn, what sort of things might be useful –"

"Oh, no you won't," Ron said, jumping to his feet. "Not alone. We're in this together now. If we're going to fight together we ought to be able to research together."

"Ron?" Hermione asked, looking startled. "You? Offering to _research_?"

"I can research," the redhead said defensively. "And I figure I ought to get used to this smarts stuff, for when I become a Tok'ra," he added, grinning.

"Oh, honestly," Hermione muttered, while Harry and Ginny shared a grin, standing up as well.

"What? There's nothing wrong with wanting to be smart," Ron said imperiously, turning to Neville. "So why don't we go to the library and get started? There's a world of smarts out there, and I am so ready to delve into it."

"Good grief," Hermione muttered, while the two grinning boys headed out of the sitting room. While Ginny and Luna headed after them, Hermione turned to Harry. "Is it wrong that I find Ron wanting to be smart unbearably annoying?" she asked. "Not that it's wrong of him to want it or anything, but the way he goes on about it…"

Egeria nudged at Harry, taking the control of their body at his acquiescence. "It's alright," the queen of Tok'ra assured. "You've worked hard all your life to become what you are, so of course the concept of someone else being handed similar or greater abilities, without them having to work for it, jars you. But consider this, Hermione; when and if you become Tok'ra, you will have this and my child's knowledge to draw upon. Ron will remain Ron, even afterwards."

Hermione thought about it and then chuckled. "I guess," she said. "I really don't want to be this petty though. Ron's got every right to look forward to it – I am too, so much. It's just, he makes it sound like it's just him at times."

"It is not, I assure you," Egeria assured with a chuckle and then held out her – Harry's – arm. "Might I escort you to the library, my dear?"

"How kind of you, my, uh, queen," Hermione answered with a grin, taking the Tok'ra's arm.

"Do you think Madam Longbottom might have any books about dark magic?" Egeria mused as they walked.

"Dark magic? Why?" Hermione asked. "To know what we're up against?"

"That too, but I was rather hoping to learn more about the Cruciatus Curse and its effect – how it functions, and how, exactly, does it cause pain. Does it create the illusion of pain or does it actually cause it and if so, how, but attacking the nervous system or the body as whole?" Egeria shrugged. "The more I know, the better for Neville's parents."

"Hm. Well, if she doesn't have anything about it, I guess we could ask her to order some – I doubt she'd decline, considering everything," Hermione answered.

Egeria nodded thoughtfully and together, with Harry slowly coming to terms with the fact that his friends were going to go to war with him and it wasn't his fault after all, they went to join the others and start their research into combat magic.

x

Studying magic was… interesting. Already Egeria and Harry had known that it would be – the things Harry could do now, the way he could use spells he had learned in the previous years, was nothing if not a huge indicator to the things to come. It was one thing to take an old, familiar spells and use it with new precision, with a new, wider understanding – it was another to learn another spell, with that precision and wider understanding already in place.

The first new spell Harry decided to learn was a shield charm made to protect against physical projectiles – and he mastered it in ten minutes, and not just that, but he easily figured out a way to be able to hold it up AND cast spells. Granted, the crystal adorned medallion had to be used, but it was still quite an accomplishment.

"I don't know, really," he said when Hermione demanded _how_ he had managed to figure it out. "It's not that much about _figuring_ it out, but how it feels, really. Spells _feel_ different, now, they have this… signature, I think. No that's wrong. It's more like they read to me differently, in detail, and knowing that detail I can, uh, I don't know. Give them precisely as much power and attention as they require?" he shrugged helplessly. "It's like I'm listening to music and playing a game at the same time – I'm just splitting my magic the same way I split my attention."

That wasn't just it, either. Learning new spells, Harry could also figure out their basic structure just after few tries – how they worked, how much power they needed or could manage, how exactly their effect came to be, what were their strong points, their flaws… A single spell, to him, was a tapestry of details, and sometimes he could even add to those tapestries to make the spells stronger, better – and of course, denser. Filling the holes in a spell's structure was by now a natural instinct to Harry, easy accomplishment thanks to the Naquadah Resonance.

For Egeria it was incredible to watch and feel. Magic always felt incredible to him, part Harry and yet not, and the further they went the more it felt like this incredible… entity which was amazingly obedient to Harry's will. It was like this guardian spirit, yet inside Harry. And to see Harry and _magic _working, shifting and modifying spells to their specifications, was like watching fine, glowing art taking form right before her eyes.

"I think I still prefer _Expelliarmus_, though," Harry admitted, after having easily mastered several new spells and even picked out his favourites among them.

"I'd think blowing stuff up would be more useful than disarming someone," Ron said a bit faintly from where he had been watching Harry demolish some practice targets. "Damn, but I can't wait to be a Tok'ra…"

"Well, I guess blowing stuff up is neat in its own right, but _Expelliarmus_ is a better spell," Harry shrugged. "I've always liked it the best, but I only now know why. All other spells I've tried – well, except for _Accio_ and the like, but it's not a combat spell – go just and only when you point at them."

"Directional spells," Hermione supplied.

"Yeah. But _Expelliarmus_ doesn't do that. I mean, it always goes for whatever my opponent has in their hand and nothing else, and it doesn't even matter what's in the way," Harry shrugged, eying his wand. "You can block pretty much every spell, with a shield or physical object – even _Avada_ _Kedavra_ stops, when it hits a rock. _Expelliarmus_ won't; it'll just go around the thing and straight for the hand and for whatever's on it, and you can't even duck or take cover from it." Flicking the wand a bit, he shrugged. "I think it just might be the most reliable combat spell there is."

"Hm. I hadn't thought about that," Hermione murmured. "But I think you're right."

"Does that mean that Accio could be a better combat spell than, say, _Bombarda_?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.

"If you know how to make use of it. _Bombarda_ can be shielded from too," Harry mused, thinking back. "Yeah, I think _Protego_ will stop a _Bombarda_. With _Accio_ you could, I don't know, summon your opponent, or summon a thing right behind your opponent and make it crash right into them – except, of course, even _accio_ed objects can be blocked…"

It was an interesting idea, and while the others practiced the spells that had only taken so long for Harry to master, Harry and Egeria turned their attention for what they were now calling _locator spells_, the sort of charms and such which went just for one thing and couldn't be blocked. Unsurprisingly, it was Transfiguration which had most spells like that, because transfiguration was all about the resources at hand – certain type of object, certain type of cloth, certain type of… pretty much everything. How to use that in a fight, however, was another thing.

_'You could, rather easily, make your opponent's clothes strangle them. Or if not strange them, then turn them into a full body bind,'_ Egeria noted, at the glimpse of a transfiguration spell that transformed any cloth at hand into gauze that was automatically wrapped – intended to be cast in emergencies when healing couldn't be used, to stop bleeding. _'And you could probably transfigure the ground beneath them, melted and then solid once they had sank.'_

_'There's an idea, yeah,'_ Harry agreed, rather gleefully, while going through variety of transfiguration books from Augusta's library, searching for spells to use. _'Oh, that'd be nasty,'_ he thought with a wide grin, at the sight of a spell that turned a person's hand into hoof. _'If I cast that, I wouldn't even need to disarm them – they wouldn't be able to hold wand not to mention about casting a spell!'_

Egeria very soon learned – and very much approved – Harry's preferences when it came to spells. Expelliarmus and its usefulness aside, Harry honestly preferred to disarming and incapacitating to injuring and especially to killing. He studied and even memorised few lethal spells, but what he spent most of his time learning were the spells that could, with minimal damage, make a person useless in fight. Though Egeria doubted very much that they could go through in life without ever killing anyone, a Tok'ra's life could never be so peaceful, it was nice for there to be so many… options.

_'I don't think we can survive being pacifists forever – and we're not,' _Harry agreed. _'And I will kill Voldemort if I ever get the chance and I won't regret it afterwards. He has to be put down and if I'm the only one who can do it, then fine, that's what I will do. But I don't want to be a killer. Not even for a good cause.'_

_'Neither do I,'_ Egeria answered.

x

Couple of days later – most of which had been spent practicing and training and mastering new magic, planning for their eventual fight and researching the events of past ten months – Janice Longbottom returned to the mansion, with two other healers, and between them they were bringing Frank and Alice Longbottom. Due to the fact that they hadn't wanted to jar the patients, the transport had happened via muggle ambulance, which was driven straight to the entrance of the Longbottom Mansion.

While Harry, Egeria and the others hid in the basement for the duration, to avoid being seen by the healers, the two torture victims were brought in and situated into one of the guest rooms which had been modified to work as a private ward. The wait was excruciating, especially for Neville who kept pacing the length of their recent training room, throwing occasional hexes at the practice targets and very nearly blowing them all up in a fit of anxious temper.

"Come on, come on. What's taking them so long?" the brown haired wizard complained while the rest of them were going through books – or letters, all of them having gotten several from their respective families.

"They have to make sure that your parents will be comfortable and well placed, Neville, and after that I imagine they want to discuss medical things with your grandmother," Hermione answered, glancing up from her book. "I'm sure we'll get to see them soon."

"It's taking ages," Neville complained with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Hm. We will have to visit the ship after the healers have left," Harry murmured, after reading through Sirius's letter for the third time – it had arrived that morning, all four sheets of it. Mostly it was about Sirius filling Harry in on the things he hadn't thought to say when they had met – mostly stuff about what had happened in the Order and in the war in the last ten months. It also had a post script about Order of Phoenix meeting which was going to take place soon, and that Sirius was currently arguing with the Weasleys about whether or not they could tell Remus about their new project.

"Why?" Neville demanded to know.

"I left the healing device in the cockpit. Egeria will need it to examine your parents," Harry answered, glancing up. "Relax, Neville," he said then. "We're not going anywhere and I doubt your grandmother will let your parents go anywhere either. We just need to wait and be patient for a bit."

"Easy for you to say," the other wizard said, sighing and falling to sit beside the others. "Sorry. I guess I'm n the edge. It's just I've been thinking about this so long, and…"

"We understand. Just breathe in and out and try not to blow anything up," Harry said with a grin, patting his shoulder. Inside him Egeria shared some of Neville's anxiety though. It was one thing to say, even to insinuate, that Tok'ra means might heal a magician, it was another thing wholly to deliver. For all she, they, knew, the healing device would have no impact what so ever and she wouldn't even be able to examine Frank and Alice. Or, worse yet, she'd be able to examine them, only to find out that there would be nothing she could do.

To give Neville that sort of news… she didn't think she could bear it. The boy – all of the children in Harry's circle – was so dear to her, to give such devastating news after letting him have that hope…

_'You too. Relax,'_ Harry said to her silently. _'We'll do what we can and if we can't do anything, then we can't. There's no use fretting it now.'_

_'You're the one to talk!'_ she huffed at him, thinking of him fretting over his friends, over Sirius, over the war and Voldemort. Harry was the _king_ of fretting.

_'Maybe. Doesn't change anything,'_ the wizard answered with a chuckle and then looked up as the heavy door of the basement was opened with a loud, metallic screech as the hinges complained

It was Augusta. "The healers have left," she said, her hands white knuckled as they clutched onto the door, looking between Harry and Neville with barely concealed anxiety. "You can see them now."

Neville was out of the door in a flash ands while they listened to his steps hurrying up the staircase beyond the door, the others stood up and headed out at a more moderate pace. Harry and Egeria took a moment to step outside and to the mansion backyard where the escape ship sat invisible and hidden, smack in middle of the garden. It was a bit… strange to step inside now, after having spent few days in the mansion and having so much space. The shop seemed even move crowded now, with something as large as the mansion to compare.

"How we'll be able to fit ourselves, Sirius and maybe Neville's parents here, I've got no idea," Harry sighed, looking at the area where their beds still stood.

_'I was thinking magical tents could expand the space quite nicely – if the ship can handle the spatial magic,'_ Egeria answered, and while they mused on the concept of having a magically expanded tent inside a space ship and the potential of the magic being affected by space travel, Harry got the hand device for healing from the cockpit and headed back out again.

By the time they made it to the room where Neville's parents were held, it was rather crowded by people. The woman, Neville's mother Alice, was fast asleep when they got to the room, lying in a tight foetal position in her bed, while the man, frank, sat stock still in his, fingering his lips and mumbling nonsense.

Neville, who was sitting between their beds with a hand resting on his father's knee, looked hopefully up at Harry. No one said a word, but they all looked at him expectantly, too tense and excited to say a word.

_'Let's do this thing, then,'_ Harry sighed, and stepped aside. Egeria, taking control of the body smoothly, carefully fitted the circular healing device onto her right hand and then considered the two patients. She elected to try Alice first, as she was asleep and would offer less trouble to examine.

While the others stepped aside, she moved to the side of Alice's bed and then reached forward a bit, to test her pulse and temperature with her right hand. All normal, she mused and then held up the healing device, nudging at it with her mind, feeling the Naquadah in Harry's veins responding with the technology. With a soft, almost ethereal sigh, the orange disk lit up in golden glow and Egeria closed her eyes to concentrate while reaching the device towards the sleeping woman's head.

Alice's brain was indeed damaged, though the damage was obscure to say at least. It was scattered thorough like specks, running without any patter thorough the cerebral cortex, affecting pretty much everything. There, in her limbic system, in her memory centres, in the basal ganglia, everywhere, affecting all things almost as once, and yet none of them simultaneously. Frowning slightly, Egeria moved the device a bit, following the lines of damage, the flickers of what almost felt like bruising but quite wasn't. Even as she examined it, it was moving, healing, repairing itself – she could actually _watch _as portions of Alice's brain healed itself.

But there was something there, in the folds of her cerebrum, that didn't register as anything that the healing device could quite understand, though. Something that was… _lurking_ in Alice's mind, for the lack of better word.

_'I think that is magic, but…'_ she murmured silently in her mind, a bit confused. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before – Harry's magic included.

_'Let me,'_ Harry said, and with a blink Egeria shifted aside. Harry left the healing device into his right hand, lowering it and reaching for Alice's head with his left one instead, gently laying his palm on her hair. Then, using the Naquadah resonance rather like Egeria had used the healing device, Harry sent his senses inside, to feel and examine. It was a most peculiar feeling, and though Egeria couldn't control any of it, she could feel it. It was like magical version of echo location, with Harry's magic sending out soft, gentle pulses and examining their echoes as whatever there was inside Alice's mind reflected them.

_'It is magic. Dark magic,'_ Harry murmured. _'Feel that? I know that feeling, there,_ that. _That is the Cruciatus curse,'_ he thought and opened his eyes, frowning. _'A bit of the curse is still there.'_

_'Oh,'_ Egeria answered, and then they thought, furiously and together, throwing together what he knew of magic and what she knew of medicine and then they knew what, exactly, drove Cruciatus victims insane even though they magic should've – and did – try to heal them.

_'Let's examine Frank,'_ Harry thought and moved around the bed. While the others stared at them, they repeated the process – first Egeria examined the damage with the healing device, then Harry felt around for the magic. It was the same – the most minute details were different, the injuries slightly dissimilar, but overall the effect was the exact same.

"I think I know what's causing the… problem," Harry said out loud after a while, lowering his hand from Frank's head while the man stared up at him in incomprehension. "We looked into the curse earlier. Cruciatus works by attacking the body, by attacking the cells and the nerves. But I think with Frank's and Alice's case, the curse was aimed directly at their heads, rather than at their bodies as whole – when they were cursed, it was done with the wand tip resting directly on their foreheads."

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione murmured, looking ill.

"Magical people have the ability to regenerate brain matter – it is probably an evolutionary quirk of wizards, born out of the need to control and maintain magic," Harry continued. "Brain is essential for the control of magic so it's the first thing the magic protects and repairs. While Frank and Alice were being cursed, that evolutionary quirk was kicked to gear, and the damage caused by the curse was being healed even while they were still under the curse. And that, I think, trapped a bit of the curse in them."

"Trapped?" August demanded to know. "What, you mean the Cruciatus curse is still there?"

"A portion of it, yes. The portion which causes the damage – it somehow, let's say, infected the regenerative abilities. So while Frank's and Alice's magic tries to regenerate the damage, it also ends up regenerating the curse. So their brains are constantly going through cycles of repair and damage, healing and being wounded over and over – that's what causes them to go through cycles of lucidity and catatonia, that allows them to remember how to walk one day, and forget it the next."

"Wait, I've examined both of them several times, and I never detected anything about the Cruciatus," Janice said, frowning. "Are you sure?"

"It's very subtle," Harry shrugged. "The traces of the magic are incredibly small, microscopic even. I doubt anyone without Naquadah resonance would be able to sense them. The problem is that however small they are, the traces are everywhere and it only takes so much to damage a brain – and the remains of the spell attack the neural cells directly."

"Okay, that's all very fascinating, but can they be healed?" Neville demanded to know, looking at Harry desperately. "Can you do anything? Or Goa'uld technology? Would a symbiote heal them?"

Harry didn't answer while he and Egeria considered the matter. Harry couldn't heal them, they knew that much. If he tried, he'd be more likely to end up killing the people he was trying to heal, trying to wrench the traces of Cruciatus out of Alice and Frank – and most likely, their magic would fight against him. As for Goa'uld technology, the answer was no. Goa'uld technology wouldn't be able to do anything to the spell, not unless they could modify it to attack magic directly and both of them doubted that possibility. But could a Tok'ra symbiote do something?

Not the symbiote, no. But the host… "Yes," Harry answered finally. "In a sense. If I had this damage, I could fix it now – thanks to the Naquadah Resonance, my magic would easily be able to combat anything like this. And a symbiote would give them that. As a Tok'ra Frank and Alice would be, essentially, be able to heal themselves."

There was an almost universal sigh, as everyone released the breath they had been holding. As Augusta sank to sit beside Frank, taking her son's hand and squeezing it.

Egeria, taking control of Harry, looked at the old woman. "There are issues, however," she said, "when a Tok'ra bonds with a magician. I would've died instantly, if Harry hadn't welcomed me – his magic would've killed me. As Frank and Alice are now, there is no way to safely introduce a symbiote into their system and not expect their magic to lash out. As things stand, it would be a hopeless endeavour and a mortal one for any symbiote who would make the attempt." And not one she much liked to have her children risk.

"So you are saying that they could be healed, except… they can't because their magic wouldn't let it happen?" Augusta asked, frowning.

"Yes. As things stand now," Egeria said sympathetically. "If there was a way to make them understand and willingly accept the symbiotes… then it would be safe." At least they hoped so – they only had one wizard-Tok'ra bonding to use as example and it was no where definite enough. But, most likely, that would be how it would work.

Augusta frowned and then nodded. "Thank you," she said, looking at her son and smiling. "It might not be as definite as we hoped, but it's something," she said, squeezing his hand.

Harry nodded, removing the healing device. Both he and Egeria wished they could've given them something more, but there wasn't really anything else to be said. As it was, the concept of Tok'ra blending in case like this was somewhat morally questionable, and neither of them wouldn't have permitted it anyway, not without Frank and Alice's fully conscious agreement. The impact of a bonding _forced_ on a host was bad enough, but this? With the hosts so incapacitated, so helpless? Not to mention what it could be like, for a young Tok'ra to experience that.

"I'm sorry I can't offer you more," Harry said, and no one answered him, Augusta being too busy looking at her son with mixed expression and Neville hanging his head in mingled frustration and disappointment. With a nod and a last glance at the two, so horribly wounded magicians, he turned and headed out, with the others following quietly after, leaving the Longbottoms in peace.

"Do you think there's a way to help them?" Ginny asked as they closed the door behind them. She looked a bit uneasy, but also a little disappointed – which, considering her phobia about possession, was quite telling. "To make them accept the symbiotes and be healed?"

"There might be. We haven't even started looking into options," Harry answered with a sigh. "All it would take was something that would give them enough… lucidity for the situation to be explained, and for them to either agree or disagree. For all I know, there's a potion out there already which works that way, though… if there was, I can't imagine Madam Longbottom wouldn't be using it already."

"Well, there's still time – we have stuff to do and we're not leaving Earth just yet," Hermione murmured. "Maybe, in the mean while, something will be found. Or if not found then…" she looked at Harry pointedly. "Maybe something can be invented, maybe."

"What, me?" Harry asked, snorting with disbelief.

"Actually, I was thinking Egeria," she answered. "With her medical knowledge, with our resources, with magic, with potions… let's just say I wouldn't be too surprised, after seeing what you two accomplished at Pangar. And most of that was while she was still in the tank."

_'It would require quite a deal of studying, I'm afraid,'_ Egeria mused, though she couldn't deny the merits of the idea. Earth had so many… new things to offer. Magical herbs and fungi that didn't even exist outside Earth. Not to mention about parts of carious magical animals. The things she could do with them, the things she could invent… It was a pity there was so many other things they had to learn and do and prepare for.

_'Actually there isn't that much for us to learn, to be honest. Couple more days and I'll be through all of Madam Longbottom's books about anything even remotely connected to battle magic – and most of her transfiguration books too,'_ Harry answered with a embarrassed sort bewilderment, like he was feeling obscurely guilty for being quick study, all of sudden. _'We could have a go at other stuff.'_

_'Hmm,'_ Egeria hummed considering it, getting a bit more excited at the concept. _'I can't do magic. Do you think I could do potions?'_

_"There's an idea. Considering the way Snape always went off about there being no wand waving in his class… but potioneering is still considered a magical art, I think. Well, I guess we won't know unless we try,'_ Harry thought back and then looked at Hermione. "Do you suppose they have a potions lab anywhere here?" he asked thoughtfully.

"I think I saw one yesterday – in the basement, just down the corridor from the training room," Ginny answered. "Why, you're thinking of some potioneering?"

"Maybe," Harry mused. "I think Egeria and I would like to experiment a bit. If there's any spare time."

"We probably won't have much, not after Sirius and the others start bringing people in," Ron said thoughtfully.

"Busy busy," Luna said, stretching her arms out and yawning. "Busier still."

_'True enough,'_ Harry sighed, more at the girl's hair than at the words. Egeria had tightly bound the girl's hair just that morning, had even used some pins which Janice had donated to the cause, and yet it was a complete mess now, pale blond locks sticking from beneath the hair band. "Well, for now we have a bit of time. I feel like studying and then maybe some spell practice, who's with me?"

"This smarts thing is starting to look like lot of work," Ron lamented with a sigh.

"Ha," Hermione answered, under her breath and with a smile, Harry led them back to the library, and to their work.

x

AN: The pairing will be **slash**, the pairing's already been decided, the character whom Harry and Egeria will be paired with is a rather extremely minor **MALE** character in SGA and I've actually foreshadowed the pairing already. On the first chapter even. And none of your opinions will change my mind. Go pimp your hawt pairings at someone else.

And hopefully this portion of the story will be wrapped up in next 3 chapters or so and we can return to Pangar.

My apologies for possible grammar errors and such.


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